Change of Heart
by AppleCiderr
Summary: After losing to Shizuo, losing his one and only friend, Izaya doesn't see a reason to carry on, he lost fair and square. He knows the truth, he is the monster, not Shizuo. For all he cared, he could stay in the darkness for the rest of his life. Suddenly, there's a light, a light that gives him a reason to live, a light in his darkness, a light he would do anything for.
1. Chapter 1

_**This idea popped into my head a long time ago, and I haven't gotten around to really writing it, as I thought the idea was a little cliché, but I got a better idea and decided I should write this, I hope you guys enjoy! This will be my first attempt at a Durarara! Fanfiction. Thanks for reading! This will also be posted on AO3. Izaya is slightly OOC, but hey, the title says it all.**_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_

 _ **I do not own Durarara! If I did Shizaya would be canon and episode 36 of X2 wouldn't have happened ;.;**_

 _ **Full Summary:**_

 _ **After losing to Shizuo, losing his one and only friend, Izaya doesn't see a reason to carry on, he lost fair and square. He knows the truth, he is the monster, not Shizuo. For all he cared, he could stay in the darkness for the rest of his life. Suddenly, there's a light, a light that gives him a reason to live, a light in his darkness, a light he would do anything for. This is the story of Orihara Izaya's change of heart.**_

– – – – –

A change of heart sometimes starts with the loss of something important.

For Orihara Izaya, it was the loss of his only friend.

It was about a week into his recovery of his fight against Shizuo, he was in a hospital in Shinjuku, Kine having decided, despite Izaya's request to get as far away from Ikebukuro as possible, he would have died if Kine had not stopped. So here he was, sitting up in his bed, feeling rather exhausted and bored. There wasn't much you could do bedridden and with two broken arms. It hurt to move around much because of the stomach wound, so he really didn't do anything.

Kine barley visited, and Manami vanished the second she realized Izaya indeed was going to survive. So, when the door opened, he was a little confused, and then very curious, as he realized that it was Shinra standing in the doorway. He blinked, then his usual, sadistic smirk grew on his face. "Hey there Shinra-kun! Where have you been? I missed you, buddy!" He said cheerfully, eyes closing with his grin. He got no response, and in surprise, he opened his eyes, finding Shinra had moved to the foot of his bed.

His face was serious, too serious for the usual cheerful Shinra. He was glaring at Izaya with animosity, and it was silent for several seconds, then he finally spoke. "You monster.." He hissed. Izaya barley hid his shock with a quick laugh, using that laugh to gather his thoughts. Serious Shinra was kind of scary, and the fact he came in spouting such strange things.

"Ah! Shinra, you must have gotten me confused with Shizu-chan, I'm pretty sure you can smell him from-" Izaya's words were cut off as Shinra roughly shook his hospital bed, causing the raven to wince. "No! Izaya! Just shut up! Shut the fuck up and listen to me for once! I didn't come here to listen to _you_ talk!" Shinra snapped, making Izaya blink at his harsh words.

Shinra was glaring at him still, and started to speak. "Shizuo.. Is not a monster. You are! You made him look like one, sending those gangs after him, arresting him! Then you started to corrupt people, kids! You bend people to their wills and use them, before throwing them out, you destroy peoples lives, and I know I've ignored it up until now but I can't anymore! Not when you tried to really kill Shizuo _and_ hurt my Celty!" His voice got more and more heated as he spoke, then he calmed down and rubbed his temple.

"Look at yourself! You nearly got yourself killed fighting Shizuo, just because you thought it was 'fun'. How do you think Varona and Shizuo felt during that, what about Simon? Do you even have the slightest bit of remorse for what you have done?" He demanded of the disheveled raven. "Well of course I do, Shinra-kun! Shizu-chan is still alive, I think that's reason enough," He responded easily, hiding the hurt behind another smile.

Shinra's frowned seemed to worsen. Then, he sighed and shook his head. "Why was I even thinking a person.. No, an emotionless monster like you could change. Me and Celty are no longer going to associate with you, Izaya. I suggest you leave Ikebukuro, leave Tokyo all together, and don't come back. Because no one wants to see you here anyways.." He hissed to Izaya, storming towards the door.

Once he reached the door, he turned to look over his shoulder and said,"Goodbye, Izaya" Then, he shut the door. Izaya blinked and looked at the door, listening to the receding footsteps. Izaya was good at hiding his emotions, sometimes he forgot he forgot that he had them, but the whole time Shinra was speaking, it felt like someone was twisting his heart, and stabbing ice through it. It hurt, and Izaya didn't like it.

 _Monster.._

 _Emotionless.._

 _Goodbye.._

He felt something wet on his cheeks, and blinked before bringing his arm up, and wiping it on his bare forearm. It was tears, he was.. Crying? Izaya hated it, the harsh, but true words that Shinra had said to him, and the goodbye he had been given, opened up the dam that he kept his emotions behind everything was coming out at once. He couldn't handle it.

Izaya's jumbled mind made him review his past few years, as he let out a small, yet soft giggle, which turned into a louder laugh. Shinra was right, he was a monster. He was evil, Izaya found himself hating himself more and more. He didn't deserve the pity, Shizuo wasn't the monster, Shizuo saved the city from one. Izaya decided that he was going to take Shinra's advice, he was leaving. He was leaving Ikebukuro, Tokyo, he was leaving and never coming back. It was the least he could do.

– – – – –

Leaving wasn't as easy as Izaya had hoped it would be. He was allowed to leave his hospital bed and move around in a wheelchair, the doctors told him that with intense physical therapy, he would probably be able to walk again. Izaya didn't care to listen after that, he would rather remain in a wheelchair, it was his payment for losing to Shizuo.

He requested a hospital transfer, somewhere far away and even out of Tokyo's district. However, they said they would not let him go until both casts were off his arms. Which was another six weeks, because of how badly the bones had been broken, though one was in a soft cast already. Izaya spent most of his time in his room still, in a slight state of depression. Not only was it from his fight with Shizuo, but the world in general. It all seemed dim, and uneventful. The chaos on the news now seemed disgusting, and seemed to mock him at the same time. He didn't want to watch it, and part of him was okay with just fading into the darkness of his mind.

About two weeks later, was when he met her. His door had opened, and he looked up wearily. Who was it now? Had Shizuo found him? Or had Shinra come back to mock him? He was incorrect. The door slid open to reveal a small figure, a child. But not one of the ones that Izaya had corrupted. He had never seen this little girl. She had gentle brown hair, which fell to her shoulders, soft green eyes, skinny limbs, and was in a hospital gown as well. In her arms, she hugged a stuffed dog to her chest. She looked to be about four.

Seeing Izaya, she smiled at him before crossing to his bed, and lifting up the stuffed dog, and placing it on the bed. "The nurses was saying you were sad," She whispered gently,"And my doggy always makes me feel better, so you can borrow him" She smiled at him, something warm seemed to be coiling around Izaya's heart. He picked up the stuffed animal. It looked like a beagle, but it had white fur with purple spot, and a torn tail.

Izaya didn't know what to do, he had never been approached by children before, he usually had to coax them to think he was good, so he could use them for his schemes. However, this little girl was different. She was eagerly smiling at him. He decided to appease her, and hugged the dog against his chest like she had done. Surprisingly, he felt a little better. So, he forced a half smile on his face, and looked towards the little girl.

"Thank you, I do feel better," He said gently. She giggled and smiled. "See? I tolds ya so!" She exclaimed. The door opened once more, and both of them turned to see a panicked looking nurse. "Yachi! You know you aren't supposed to be outside of your room after curfew! What are you doing here?" She demanded of the little girl.

Yachi, if Izaya remembered correctly, pointed to him and said,"The doctors were saying that he was sad! So I wanted to cheer him up! And it worked!" The nurse looked a little calmer, but gently took the girl's hand, and said,"Very good job, Yachi, but you need to stay in your room, it's not safe for you out here" Yachi followed the nurse out of the room, but turned and waved at Izaya, whom was still clutching the dog toy to his chest.

When the nurse returned with his lunch not even ten minutes later, he turned to her. "Why is she here? She's so young.." He asked the nurse. The nurse froze at what she was doing, almost crushing the plate in between her fingers. "She's.. A cancer patient.. Stage three.." The woman whispered.

Izaya felt his heart skip a beat. _That young..?_ He thought. "Will she survive?" He asked. The nurse started to mess with his casts, making sure nothing was wrong. "Not without treatment, Orihara-san, and even then it's only a 72% survival rate.." She said.

"Is that why she wasn't supposed to be outside of her room? Because she was starting her treatment?" He questioned. The nurse shook her head. "It's because she isn't going to get treatment, no one is willing to pay for it, she doesn't have any family either. We have her here.. So she can enjoy her last years of her life. We don't want her outside because we want to prolong her life as long as we can.. If the treatment isn't started soon, her chances of surviving with be lower and lower.."

Izaya frowned. Somehow, this little child had managed to attach herself to him, in just the two minutes they were together. And she was going to die, just because nobody was willing to pay for her treatment? It reminded Izaya of his own parents. If his parents had to choose to save him or his sisters, back when he still was living with them, they would have gladly pushed him off.

"Can.. Can she still survive if given the treatment?" He asked. The nurse looked at him once more before replying,"It would be a 50% survival rate at this point, but yes, not for much longer though.."

Izaya looked down at his arms, and the stuffed animal in them. "Can I go see her?" He asked. The nurse frowned for a second, before saying,"Well, you aren't sick, so you aren't contagious to her. I think I can get you in there today.." The nurse watched Izaya curiously, seeing his train of thought, she felt hope in her chest. Maybe Yachi would survive after all?

Izaya was brought to her room, he saw it looked like a room for a dying person. There were toys everywhere, probably from the nurses. The little girl was on the bed, coloring in a picture of a unicorn. She looked up and smiled softly. "Hello Orihara-san!" She said happily. Izaya smiled back, before blinking in surprise. Smiled back? What was this little girl doing to him?

"I um.. I brought your doggy back, he was telling me all about how much he missed you," Izaya improvised. Yachi looked at him in surprise. "You can speak Russian?" She suddenly asked. Izaya blinked. "Huh?" He questioned.

"The nice nurse that gave me this got it from Russia, so I don't think he knows Japanese. I'm tryin' to teach him.. But he just ignores me!" She said with a pout. Izaya let out a chuckle. What an imagination..

Izaya looked at the now Russian stuffed dog, deciding to appease the little girl. "вы позволите ей научить вас японский ?" He asked the dog, leaning forward. He then listened to nothing and nodded, gesturing to the stuffie in his arms. "He says he will try to listen more!" He told her cheerfully. Yachi gasped and replied,"Orihara-san, you're so amazing!"

He chuckled at her words. Yachi then looked at him, seeing the bruises and cuts on his body. "What happened to you..?" She asked,"Did you get hit by a car?" Izaya shook his head. "No, I was.. Evil, and I was hurting people, so a very strong man defeated me, and taught me a lesson.." He explained.

Yachi frowned, her emerald eyes shining. "But.. But Orihara-san isn't mean! You're very very nice! You helped me talk to Tallulah!" She exclaimed. "I didn't use to be," He explained _I'm still not.._ He thought, before he continued,"I would say I got what I deserved.."

Yachi frowned again, before asking,"Will you be able to walk again..?" Izaya looked down at his own legs and said,"I could, but I don't want to.." Yachi looked very angry.

"But, how are you supposed to get better if you won't?! What if I get better and you don't, then how can we be friends?" She asked. _Oh.. They didn't tell her the truth, did they?_

"I'll still get better, no matter if I walk or not"

"But you still won't be all the way better.." Yachi interjected softly.

Izaya sighed, this child was persistent. "I know!" She suddenly yelled,"If I promise to get better, will you promise to learn to walk again?" Izaya felt a pang in his chest, but forced a smile and nodded, before saying,"I promise"

She smiled at him, before going back to her drawing. He didn't have the heart to tell her, for once Izaya didn't want to give away information. Even if he got better, without treatment, she wouldn't. Promise or not. Before he knew what he was doing, he had turned to the nurse and said,"May I speak to her doctor?"

The nurse seemed to know what he was thinking, as he was wheeled outside, and waited with the nurse. The doctor finally appeared, and asked,"What is this all about?"

 _What am I doing? What am I doing?_ Izaya wondered before looking up and firmly saying,"I want to pay for Yachi's treatment" The nurse looked very happy, like she knew it was coming, while the doctor blinked in surprise, before saying,"Are you sure, Orihara-san? It's quite a lot of money for an intense treatment, especially the one Yachi needs to survive this experience" Izaya nodded firmly, and the nurse suddenly grew a sly smirk.

"Will you be paying for your own physical therapy too, Orihara-san?" She asked, and he looked at her confusedly. "If I remember correctly, as long as she gets better, you have to get better too, which includes walking again," She pointed out with a giggle. Izaya let out a loud, childish whine, slumping down in the wheelchair. "Aww! I forgot you were in there too.. Fine!" He drawled out the last word, but in a cheerful tone.

Izaya was extremely thankful that one of his hands was in a soft cast, the one Shizuo didn't hit as hard, so that made it easier to sign the papers. Once he did, he felt as if he had been released somehow. The chains around him vanished, he actually felt.. Happy? It was a strange feeling, but.. It was one he could grow used to. He thought about the weird feeling, and realized now when it started. When Yachi first walked in his room to cheer him up, she had somehow captured him in that gentle gaze.

Now, the previous informant broker felt like he would do anything for her.

– – – – –

 _This is torture.._

Izaya groaned as he clutched the bars on the wall. It was a few days later, and the doctor wanted to get him to be walking sooner than later, to make sure his legs didn't loose too much muscle. It was painful, his legs were throbbing and shaking.

They had him doing some 'gentle' workouts, (They were not gentle at all, don't listen to the nurse, is what he would tell Yachi later) and Izaya wondered why it had to be so painful walking back and forth. While walking, the nurse followed him. "We told Yachi about the treatment," She suddenly said. Izaya stopped walking and looked at her. She moved her pen forward, gesturing for him to keep moving. Izaya stuck his tongue out at her before continuing to walk. "Did she say anything?" He asked her.

"Yes she did actually," The nurse responded,"She wants you to be there with her for them, which means you would have to cancel your hospital transfer" Izaya nodded and replied,"Alright I will!" The nurse looked at him suspiciously.

She walked next to him and said,"I'm curious, I've heard a lot about you Orihara Izaya, and from what I've heard, you aren't the nicest of people. So, why are you going through all of this for one little girl?" Izaya continued walking, but slowly said,"I don't really know.. But.. When I saw her.. And she smiled at me.. Something just clicked.."

The nurse smiled at him, calming down again, before saying,"I've heard that children can do that to you, and I want you to know that your the only one she's ever let get this close, Izaya, and they say kids are good judges of character.."

Izaya wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, so he just kept walking. This went on for another hour, before they took him to Yachi's treatment room. He saw several machines around a bed with stuffed animals on it, and Yachi standing by the bed near some nurses, tugging on her hospital gown fearfully. The little girl saw him and ran over, grabbing onto his wheelchair. "Izaya-san.. I'm scared.." She whispered. Izaya frowned, before placing a hand on her shoulder and asking,"Eh? Why? You're gonna get better, remember?"

"I know but.. The needles, I'm gonna have to keep them in.. And I'm gonna get sick after.. I.. I wanna get better but.." She whispered, and Izaya slowly gave her a smile. He tried to remember how his parents would console his sisters after something happened to them. "It's okay Yachi, it won't hurt forever, it'll just be a little pinch, okay? It's only for four weeks, and then the first part will be over, okay?" He whispered, putting on the best smile he could, and Yachi looked at him fearfully.

"What if I die..?" She whispers. Izaya feels pity, no little girl should have to think about stuff like this. Then, he felt guilt, realizing he had made people think about death like this before, Shinra's words started replying in his head. But he shook them off, he knew he was a monster, but he couldn't wallow right now. Izaya replied,"You have a better chance of living, Yachi-chan, I promise that won't happen, I won't let it"

Yachi looked at him with tear stained eyes. "W-what will I do if I live? Where will I go? I dunno if the orphanage will want me back.." She whispered. Izaya looked at her gently, and moved forward, kissing her forehead to give the child a semblance of comfort. "I'll take care of you," He suddenly promised her, and she looked shocked. "Really..?" She asked. Part of Izaya's mind was yelling at him again, demanding him to stop what he was doing, but a larger part of him made him keep going, he would help this little girl, if it was the last thing he did.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by her hand coming into his vision, she was holding out her pinky. "Pinky promise?" She asked. Izaya grinned and held out his finger too. "Pinky promise!" He said back cheerfully.

The treatments started, and every time, Izaya was there, holding the little girl's hand no matter how hard she squeezed, sleeping by the bed. It was amazing the impact one innocent soul could have on a damaged one. Nobody came and visited Izaya anymore, but he didn't care, he had something else to worry about, or rather, someone.

"Wait, so your telling me that the orphanage kicked her out of the system since nobody would pay for her treatment?" He asked the doctor two weeks later, whom was nodding sadly. "Can.. Can she still be adopted?" Izaya asked gently. The doctor looked at him curiously, yet with worry.

"Orihara-san, I understand you want to help her, but you're a single man and have a dangerous job. They won't let you.." He said, watching Izaya, whom was staring back at him while sitting in his hospital bed. Honestly, he was pretty healed, arms still weak but they did their purpose, the only reason he was still allowed in the hospital was not only his walking issue but also his connection to Yachi.

Izaya took a few breaths before saying,"I am only a single man now. I can't be an informant broker anymore. Not after.. That.. I figure I'll find a more tame job, but for now I have enough money to move us somewhere safer while I find a job" Izaya was hoping he could find a job that wasn't boring, but also didn't require too much walking.

The doctor frowned and shrugged, as he said,"That could work.. I'll call my fried, he works in the agency, I'm sure he can help you figure it out. I can't thank you enough for paying for the treatment though, what made you change so much, Orihara-san?"

Izaya frowned, before saying,"I had my eyes opened"

– – – – –

Yachi seemed to withdraw a little a third of the way through the first part of her treatment. Her hair was starting to fall out, and she seemed ashamed about it. Anytime the nurses would walk into her room, she would have the blanket over her face, as if she was ashamed. Izaya didn't like it, not one bit. Before Shinra outburst, Izaya would have happily laughed at such a sight, finding the shame and humiliation of humans amusing, but now it hurt his heart.

Once again, he did something about it. That little voice in his head always telling him to stop had started to vanish, as if it was okay with what Izaya was doing now. But it seemed even more panicked at his latest decision. Until he could get something better for Yachi, he was going to give her his fur jacket.

He didn't have any weapons in it, the nurses confiscated what was left of them before cleaning the jacket, now Izaya was staring at it while he limped towards her room. He felt a tug at her heart. Would he be able to do this? Yes, yes he would. He knew it already, he would do anything for this girl. So, he limped to her room, where she sat with her plush dog hugged to her chest on one hand and the other making sure the baby blue blanket covered her head.

She saw him and gently said,"Hello Iza-kun" Izaya smiled and said,"Hey Yachi-chan, how ya doin?" Yachi frowned, looking down at the bed. "I'm okay.. I am getting better, the doctor says that I won't be throwing up anymore.. For now.." She whispered, both hands now clutching at the sheet. Izaya easily saw her sadness, and decided he needed to try and cheer her up. The raven smiled and said,"That's great! Now, I have a present for you!"

The little girl instantly grew excited, and her grip loosened. "Really? Can I see it?" She asked. Izaya grinned again, loving the excitement she showed, before nodding and sitting on the edge of the bed. His legs were throbbing, and he needed to get off them. He pushed the bundle over to her, and she pulled it closer excitedly, forgetting about the sheet. It fell down, showing her now scraggly hair, with several bald spots.

She gasped as she unfolded it, looking at it before asking,"Is this yours, Iza-kun?" Izaya nodded, and said,"Yes, but I'm going to let you borrow it, okay? I want you to take very good care of it, because it's my favorite jacket" Yachi nodded, watching Izaya with wide eyes, taking in everything he said. Then, she instantly began to put it on, stuffing her hands in the too-large sleeves, and pulled the hood over her face, it's fur hitting her nose and making her giggle.

"I love it!" She exclaimed, waving her hands and causing the sleeves to flail, before she got up and stumbled over to him, hugging him tightly. Izaya blinked in surprise, that warm feeling coming from his chest had returned, before he hugged her back, as gently as he could as to not injure the weak body.

"Thank you so much Iza-kun.. For everything.." She whispered against his chest, before sniffing and beginning to cry. Izaya felt slight panic, what did he do in this situation?! Slowly, he rubbed her back and said,"Anything for you, Yachi-chan!"

She would end up falling asleep in his arms, and he would remain there for hours, holding the child close, not willing to let go just yet, for fear that if he let go, he might go back to where he was before. He might fall back into the darkness, he didn't want to lose himself, or his new source of light in his life.

– – – – –

Finally, the day came. The first part of Yachi's treatment was done. The little girl was still recovering from it, and was often tired. She still found time to tell Izaya all her stories about her adventures with her Russian stuffed dog. The doctors explained that she was out of immediate danger, and would live if he was able to keep funding the treatment. Izaya didn't mean to brag, but despite his hefty hospital bill, he was still loaded, he was pretty alright with everything for now.

The next part, before they did anything else, was to adopt Yachi, so that she wouldn't be put back in that horrible orphanage. It had been rather easy, but he had been merciless. Using his skills, and a spare laptop, he had contacted the orphanage, threatening them with blackmail. He told them if they didn't give him adoption papers and rights to Yachi, he would reveal their abusive behavior to the government, and have them shut down.

The panicked, obviously, but gave him the papers he required, and everything belonging to the little girl. After making sure everything was in order, he released the information anyways. He may be a monster, but he wasn't going to leave other children in the same horrible care as Yachi once was in. The scandal was all over the news, they were shut down before the day was over, all the children sent somewhere better. The news was thanking the anonymous angel, who saved all the poor children from years of neglect and abuse.

Izaya would look back on their words and find it strange, that the press could turn a monster into an angel, but he supposed nobody knew it was him who gave the information. This time, it was more than being generous that made him remain anonymous. If anyone figured out it was him that released that information, especially his old.. Acquaintances.. They would think it was a trick of some sort, and track him down. He was okay with everyone thinking him dead.

Of course, two people figured it out pretty quickly. The damn doctor and his cheeky nurse, walked into the room with the biggest, snarkiest grins he had ever seen, even better than his grins. " _Whaaat?_ " He exaggeratedly whined. "Don't look at me like that! Anyone would have done the same!" He crossed his arms and pouted.

"Of course we all would," The doctor agreed, not bothering to mention that Anybody usually didn't include someone who was supposedly an evil informant broker. "So I'm guessing you got the papers to adopt Yachi, right?" He asked calmly. Izaya nodded and put his hand under his pillow and pulled them out. "They faxed them to the office as soon as I told them what I wanted," He explained,"They don't know who asked for it, all they know is that it was faxed to a random fax machine here"

"Wait," The nurse asked,"How did you get into the office?" No response except a way too innocent stare back. The doctor took the papers and smiled, seeing everything was already filled out. "Alright, I'll go and turn these in right away, congratulations on becoming a father, Orihara-san," He said, and then left the room with the nurse.

That hit Izaya in a weird way. Orihara Izaya, a father? Who would have thought that would happen, but to Izaya, it was the most perfect thing in the world, like the puzzle piece that had been missing from his life. He knew that no matter what, he would take care of Yachi no matter that, just like he promise.

Running a hand through his now shoulder length hair, he slid out of the bed, moving towards Yachi's room, deciding to deliver the good news.

Once he opened the door, he was instantly overwhelmed at the adorable sight of Yachi, still buried in his jacket, hugging the russian stuffed dog to her chest, and her gentle green eyes on him. "Iza-kun, hello!" She said, waving.

Izaya grinned widely crossed to the other side of the room, sitting down, the little girl instantly got up, sitting in his lap and hugging her arms around his neck. "I missed you," She said gently. Izaya smiled and hugged the girl closer.

"Do I have to go now?" She asked, and Izaya frowned, crimson eyes moving to stare at her. "Why would you think that?" He questioned her. Her green eyes stared up at him tearfully, before moving down and messing with the fur lining her too-big sleeves. "Well.. I saw it on the tv.. It was saying that where I used to live was shut down, and they moved all the kids away. Am I going to have to leave too.. Now that I'm better?"

Her fear was warranted, Izaya realized. She was still an orphan, or so she thought. He needed to banish that thought from her head now. "Well.." He began,"I dunno about you, but I don't think I'm gonna let them take my daughter anywhere" He said it casually, and watched her jerk her head up in shock. "Daughter..?" She questioned.

Izaya couldn't fight the grin, as he said,"I promised I'd take care of you didn't I?" The green eyes filled with tears and she sniffed, before throwing her arms around his neck, burying her face into her neck. "Thank you!" She sobbed,"I love you so much Tou-chan!" Izaya blinked in surprise, before feeling the strange and foreign feeling of tears in his eyes return, as he softly said,"I love you too, Yachi"

– – – – –

"So you're leaving now?"

Izaya stood, his daughter hugging his arm as she cuddle against his chest, enjoying being carried in her new father's arms. Izaya stood next to two suitcases, one big and black, one was medium and purple. The doctor and his nurse were watching them with sad smiles.

"Yes, we are, I want to thank you for treating her, and say that we will stay in touch. We're going to get away from the cities, somewhere safer for both of us, the longer I stay here, the more likely it is someone will notice I am still alive," He explained calmly. He had plenty of enemies, the last thing he wanted was them coming after his new light.

The nurse moved forward, placing a kiss on Yachi's forehead and then hugging the man holding her. "You'd better stay safe like you said, and text us every day, okay?" She said sternly,"If she gets sick or your legs start acting up, call right away, okay?"

Yachi giggled at her stern tone, and said,"Okay Mizuki-chan, we promise!" The doctor smiled and nodded at his patients, before he spoke. "Best of luck to you two," He said gently. His smile didn't reach his eyes, only Izaya could tell that. He was warning Izaya to be careful.

Izaya's eyes grew serious in response, and he nodded. At that moment, he was glad he was wearing some blue outfit, he didn't look anything like Orihara Izaya. It would be perfect to get out of Shinjuku and somewhere safer. He felt his daughter squirming, and then realized that she was probably excited. She hadn't been outside in so long because of her weak immune system, now she was strong again, she was going out to see the world again.

"We'll keep in touch, you mother hens!" Izaya called, grabbing the two suitcases and walking out. "It's our jobs the be mother hens!" Mizuki called back, before waving goodbye with the doctor.

It didn't take Izaya long to find a nice train. Yachi was mesmerized by everything, feeling excited to be out in the fresh air, so she was a little upset when they got down to the station. "Don't worry Yachi, the view is amazing!" He exclaimed, you could see everything out the windows.

True to his words, the little girl was glued to the window as soon as they took off, enjoying the view of the city and the ocean. "Wow! So pretty!" She exclaimed happily. Then, she looked up at Izaya through his jacket. "Where are we going Tou-chan?" She asked, Izaya continued to feel sparks of happiness fly through him whenever she said that.

"We're going to the Hyōgo Prefecture, it's pretty and right by the ocean. Plus it has very good hospitals to keep you healthy and happy," He said happily, poking her cheek and making the little girl giggle with excitement, before getting up and nuzzling against his chest again. The little girl fell asleep him again, as Izaya wrapped his arms around her with a smile. He felt slightly drowsy and leaned against the padded back of the train.

He knew he probably didn't deserve the happiness he was getting, after all the horrible things he had done, but Yachi sure did. She was his daughter, his light, and the one who helped him change his heart. He would protect her and take care of her forever, and as the darkness that surrounded his soul finally faded away, he knew for sure that he would always protect her, his light, his daughter. No matter what the circumstances, he would take care of her.

Looking down at her, he pressed a gentle kiss on her hooded forehead before leaning back once more, and following his daughter into a restful slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay, so this is the second to last chapter before the other characters are brought back into the fray. The next chapter will basically be things happening in Izaya's life in the years he was separated from everyone else. Its important to do that before bringing everyone back, you'll see why ;) Also, anyone have any ideas on what they'd like to see Izaya work as?**_

 _ **Anyways, enjoy!**_

– – – – – –

The sunlight streaming against his eyes awoke the man on the train, his arms wrapped firmly around the little girl sleeping against him. Orihara Izaya, and his daughter, Orihara Yachi had been on a train, heading towards a place far away from where they could have a safe and happy life. Away from the orphanage that traumatized the little girl, and away from the hate and trauma that had surrounded the raven.

He blinked and tightened one arm around Yachi, the other coming up to rub his eyes. "Hmm.." He groaned, before looking out the window. The sun was rising, they'd probably be close to their destination soon. He looked down at his daughter, seeing her small hands curled around his blue shirt, her lids closed over her gentle green eyes, the green eyes that had managed to make him change for them. He smiled at her, then looked back out the window. What time is it? He wondered curiously, before reaching his free hand in his pocket and pulling out his phone.

Izaya wasn't foolish, a few days before Yachi was released into his care he snuck out of the hospital in disguise and had his number changed. Now the only people who had his number was Mizuki and Doctor Nanase. He even bought a brand new phone, just to make sure nobody could track his last one. He looked at the time. 5:58am. Yes, they should be at their destination soon, he was surprised both of them had slept so long, but he also found it relaxing, knowing that after much stress and worry, they were both okay, and Izaya was free from his past life. He could start anew with his daughter, he could be happy, and everyone he used to torment would be free.

"Tou-chan?"A drowsy voice came to his ears. Izaya quickly looked down and saw Yachi's green eyes staring up at him, slightly curious but manly filled with exhaustion. Izaya didn't blame her, after all she had been cooped up in the hospital for the better part of two years, and he hadn't left the hospital until she had been discharged, they were both pretty tired.

"Are we there yet?" She continued softly, and Izaya felt a smile pulling at his lips. "We're almost there, I'm glad you're awake. The sun is rising, it looks very pretty!" He said happily, pointing to out of the window. Yachi gasped excitedly, before managing to squirm out of Izaya's arms and crawl across the plush red cushions, and up to the window. She gasped at the sight, and Izaya quickly scooted over to watch it himself.

The sun was beautiful, a nice orange that spread over the ocean and on the parts of the beach they could see. The open sky was surrounded by hues of pink, purple, and blue. He wasn't able to see such beautiful sights when surrounded by big buildings. Something else in the glass caught his eye and it was his own reflection. His skin was paler than before, and he had small bags underneath his tired eyes. His raven black hair had grown out a bit, and was covering most of his forehead, and brushing the back of his neck softly. Releasing a sigh, the young man lifted a lock of hair off his forehead from his head and spoke,"I really need to cut my hair.."

Yachi looked up at Izaya for a moment, and then frowned, before crawling back up to where he was sitting and lying her head in his lap. "I like Tou-chan's hair like that.." She said,"Can you keep it? It looks like my hair.." Izaya couldn't say no to her. Her gentle voice seemed to always manage to make that warmth blossom more and more throughout his body. "Alright~" He told her, ruffling what was left of her own hair through his fur coat. "It'll stay for now"

His daughter's response was to nuzzle further against him, and then a while later the train finally came to a complete stop. _"Now arriving at_ _Umizoinogake!_ _"_ A woman's preppy voice said over the speakers. Yachi cheered excitedly, while he gathered up their belongings, making sure to hold her hand in his own. Her green eyes turned up to him. "Tou-chan?" She asked softly.

"Yes Yachi?" Izaya asked curiously. "Where are we gonna live?" She asked softly,"Did you find a home already?" "Aw! Do you really think that little of me?" Izaya questioned, a fake pout on his face. "I thought you wanted to help me find a house that both of us would like, but if you really want me to do it on my own then I guess I will.." He said as he walked, watching the little girl's eyes widen as she realized what she said.

"No! No I wanna help Tou-chan!" The four year old exclaimed,"I can help my Tou-chan find the bestest house in the world!" Izaya smiled at the sight of her energy, before he replied,"Alrighty! We'll start looking after we drop off our things and have breakfast" Yachi wrinkled her nose a bit at his words, reminding Izaya that she probably didn't remember anything other than the nasty hospital food they had to eat. He would remedy that soon enough.

Walking outside of the station and into the town, he was in awe of how beautiful it was. Grass was everywhere and they were surrounded by trees and foilage, mountains spanning and rising up, giving the town a homey feel. It looked like a village dropped in the middle of the forest. The houses and stores all looked traditional, and he could easily see that their new home was right next to the ocean, a hill was mainly all that was keeping them from being in the sand of a beach. He could also see many boats in the ocean. It was amazing. "S-sugoi!" Yachi whispered, pulling at his shirt and covering the lower half of her face.

He made sure they got to the hotel, which had a stone foundation but looked like a dojo the rest of the way up, where one of the employees offered to carry their things to their room so they could go eat, to which Izaya gave him a good tip. Izaya had gone above and beyond to make sure nobody could track him down, even changing his bank cards, he could stay at this hotel with his daughter without worrying about being tracked down.

His daughter.. It still felt strange to say or even think. A few months ago, Izaya didn't even know if he'd make it into his 30s with his line of work, now he was a father.. And unemployed. _I really need to find a job.._ Izaya thought. _Maybe I should go back to college.. I could head straight into graduate school if I really wanted too.._ He heard the noise of a growling stomach and turned to look down at Yachi, who had blushed and buried her face back in his shirt when she realized he was watching.

"Is someone hungry?" He asked teasingly, crimson eyes filled with amusement. Yachi scrunched her nose up in the most adorable way once more before nodding. "But I don't wanna eat food.. The food is always nasty," She said softly, only remembering the hospital food. Izaya chuckled softly before messing with the hood covering her head. "Don't worry, Yachi, your Tou-chan will make sure that the food is extremely delicious, or we'll leave without paying," Izaya told her in a firm tone. Yachi giggled happily, nuzzling against his side with happiness.

Taking her to the buffet, he tried to think of what would be good for her. Obviously, he couldn't let her have anything too greasy or heavy. She was still recovering, and such foods would be too much for her. However, she also needed food with high calories to help her body. He decided on a glass of water and an apple sauce to start with, he didn't want to overload her on foods, since she probably wouldn't be able to stomach it. For himself, since he wasn't much of a breakfast person, he merely grabbed a banana. However, Yachi sent him a look, and he also made sure to place a bowl of oatmeal on their table as well.

The little girl, in her too-big hoodie, ran over to the chair and was attempting to climb up. However, her limbs were weak, and she was smaller than she should be at her age. Izaya felt slight pity, and made his way over to her. Placing their things down, he quickly knelt down and scooped her up. Yachi gasped and then squealed in happiness, before allowing Izaya to sit with her on his lap. Looking at the food in front of her, she slightly frowned. "What is it?" She asked.

"Apple sauce, it's like apples squished up so it's easier to eat, and kind of sweeter too," Izaya explained the best he could. Yachi still looked apprehensive. He sighed a bit, before saying,"Here, I'll have a bite too, how does that sound?" Yachi turned and watched him with her wide green eyes. Izaya slowly took his spoon and then slid it along the rim of the plastic cup, before placing it in his mouth. He wanted to cringe badly. He hated sweet foods, and it brought back memories of a certain person.. Someone who was quite fond of milk..

 _No, stop it Izaya!_ He told himself. _Thinking about them isn't a good idea, besides it's not like Shizuo or anyone else misses me.. They don't need a monster like me in their life.._ He snapped back to reality and forced a smile on his face. "Mm~! It's yummy!" He told her in an exaggerated happy tone. "Come on, try some for Tou-chan," He pleased, running her own spoon along the middle, and pulling out a nice spoonful.

"Say Ah~!" Izaya said in an excited tone. Yachi giggled softly at her father's playful nature, before opening her mouth and accepting the spoon. Her green eyes lit up with excitement. "Mm! It's yummy Tou-chan!" She exclaimed, repeating pretty much the same thing Izaya had said. She then reached out, gently taking the spoon from Izaya and scooting closer, as to eat herself. She seemed to find it immensely delicious, not slowing down. He laughed a little, and said,"Relax, sweetie, there is always more if you want some"

The child blushed before slowing down her pace, and Izaya smiled before reaching for his banana. It tasted delicious, compared to the mushy hospital food, but Yachi survived on that stuff longer than he did, he had no right to complain. Yachi turned and looked at him. "Tou-chan?" She asked, her eyes barley managing to look at him through the fuzz of his coat. "Yes sweetheart?" He replied.

She looked shy, before saying,"If I give you some apple sauce.. Can I have a bite of the banana?" Izaya nearly cringed at the thought of eating the apple sauce again, but smiled and replied,"Yachi, you can have some banana, you don't need to give me some of your apple sauce!" Yachi's frown deepend and she quickly shook her head. "But it's not fair then! You don't get anything and that's not fair!" She told him firmly,"Tou-chan has to have some apple sauce, or I won't have banana!"

She was too adorable, and Izaya found he couldn't say no to her. "Alright Yachi, I'll have some apple sauce, you can have some banana," He relented, gaining a happy smile from the child. After the tedious exchange, and finishing the rest of their food, Izaya had them wait a while. He wanted to make sure the food was settling for Yachi and look on his phone for any retailers looking to sell a house.

Yachi turned and looked towards him. "Is it time to go Tou-chan?" She asked. Izaya smiled at her, ruffling the hood on her head and kissing her forehead. "Yep!" He told her happily,"Let's go look for a new home!" "Yay!" The little girl squealed, hugging him tightly and nearly losing her grip in excitement. It was time to find their new home.

– – – – –

"Whoa! It's so pretty!"

Izaya had to agree with her. This house was very beautiful. They had been searching around the town for three days trying to find a house. The town was kind of small and close knit, and so they were seen as outcasts. People weren't downright rude to them, but acted awkward. He hoped that mood would vanish as they settled in. Though, he didn't think he'd have to wait longer to find out if his theory was correct. He believed they had found the house.

It was quite a walk, up a slight slope and on top of a hill. The house was on a piece of land that broke off from the beach village slightly, and was surrounded by the ocean. There were two other houses on lower frontal hills on either side of it, but other than that their surroundings were only foliage and a road. The house itself was yellow with a red roof. It was two stories, with two balconies. One on the front and one on the sides. The house was slightly large, and looked a little puffed up instead of just a rough square shape.

The front of the house also had sliding doors a few feet to the left of the front door, which had steps leading to it, thought the front door was pushed out a little farther than the rest of the house. Put against the side of the house was a nice gray canopy where you would park a car. On the other side of the house, just inside of the house, was a small shed painted the same color as the house. "It's amazing!" Yachi exclaimed happily, tugging on her father's hand.

The retail woman smiled at them, she was the only one who was not acting awkwardly towards them. "It is a pretty nice house! It comes equipped with it's own water tank and propane tank in case of bad storms and anything worse, and there is a nice trail just on the side of the house. It leads to a little beach where I'm sure you and your daughter could play and relax!" She explained calmly. Izaya smiled a bit and nodded, listening to Yachi's happy noises about liking the house.

"Can we look inside very quick?" Yachi asked, her green eyes still filled with excitement. It seemed nobody was able to defeat her puppy dog gaze, it didn't help that she looked extremely adorable in her blue dress and petticoat shorts. "Of course sweetie!" She said softly, moving a hand to open the gate. Yachi quickly screambled over to the door, grabbing Izaya's hand. "Come on Tou-chan! Let's go see the house!" She begged.

Yachi hadn't been this excited about any of the other houses, so Izaya followed after her as fast as she could. The inside of the house was as amazing as the outside of the house. The entrance of the house had a genkan, of course, and a sliding door cabinet on the wall. There was a living room that was connected to a dining room, which had a door to the kitchen. The kitchen was amazing, and it made Izaya decide he would learn to cook better for Yachi. There was a door in the kitchen that led to a small basement, and a door across from it led to a bathroom.

There was an extra room downstairs, that the retailer said it could be an office or guest bedroom. Upstairs was three more rooms, and another bathroom. The balconies gave a great view of the sea, and the little beach down the trail. It was an amazing. It was perfect. "We'll take it," Izaya told the retail woman happily. Yachi gasped and said,"Yay! We're gonna live here!" She giggled and ran down the small beach a bit. However, as the waves came speeding back she quickly ran back to where Izaya was and dove into his arms. The small wave missed them by inches.

Izaya laughed heartily at his daughter's reaction to the waves. "Don't worry," He said, hugging her tightly. "Tou-chan will protect you from the evil waves!" Yachi nodded against him, a smile still on her face. The retail woman smiled and said,"Wonderful! Then that means we're neighbors!" Yachi turned to look at her curiously as the woman continued,"I live on the blue house on the west side with my son, I believe they are the same age. It's nice to have a neighbor again! I'm sure Sosuke will be thrilled!"

"Oh! Yes!" Yachi exclaimed happily, turning and looking up at Izaya. "Can he come over and play? Pretty please?" She begged, giving him the puppy dog eyes. Izaya pretended to think about it hard, running a hand along his chin and making thoughtful noises. Then, he shrugged nonchalantly and declared,"I don't see why not!"

The retail woman smiled and said,"Wonderful! My name is Lisa, it's nice to meet you! I will have the paperwork ready when we get back to the office, and then you can move in!" Yachi cheered happily, somehow still filled with energy, before grabbing Izaya's hand and trying to make him stand up. Izaya smiled at her excitement, and then managed to come to a standing. They walked down the hill and back into town. Now this place was really their home.

– – – – –

After about a week and a half, they were fully moved in and furnished. Izaya was sitting next to Yachi on their couch, the little girl was asleep, curled up in a ball and covered by a red blanket. Izaya felt more tired than he had in a long time. Looking down at his slim and weak body, he decided that he needed to work out again and get stronger once more, mainly in case anyone tried to track them down, and so he wasn't exhausted by the smallest of tasks.

Standing up, Izaya scooped up his daughter and walked up the stairs. His face was relaxed, he felt bliss. Izaya never thought a peaceful, domestic life could be so amazing. Opening the door, he walked into Yachi's room, and settled the girl on her futon, making sure she was covered and had her Russian dog in her arms. She had a smile on her face, and she looked so happy.

He did that. He had saved her life, she had saved his, and now they were father and daughter. Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on her forehead and softly declared,"I love you" The smile on her face seemed to widen even more. He smiled at her again, walking to the light and turning it off, before heading to his own bedroom.

Instead of going straight to bed, he walked to the balcony, opening the door and leaning against the railing. His hair swayed in the gentle wind, which sent the smell of the sea towards him. It was relaxing, and made him feel much safer, knowing nobody knew he was here. He could live a nice life, and so could they.

 _I wonder what everyone is up to now.._ He thought absentmindedly, looking at the scars on his arms from the damage Shizuo caused. _It's been months since I was put in the hospital. Has Dota-chin's gang changed? Probably not.. I wonder what the teens are up to.. How Celty is faring.._ He didn't dare think about two others, the two others who he would prefer to forget. Though everything they did or said he had deserved. He hoped the world would allow him to keep his happiness, and let everyone else live peacefully now that he was gone.

He relaxed a bit more before getting up and moving back inside, closing the door and turning off his light. He kept his door slightly open for Yachi, who tended to end up in his bed by morning sometimes. She could somehow tell when he had nightmares, or when she needed the comfort herself. Curling up under the futon, Izaya closed his crimson eyes and thought about how happy he felt now, before falling into a deep and restful slumber.

Unknown to him, a certain blonde in a certain city was struggling with the same memories as him, and unable to find the same peaceful sleep..


	3. Chapter 3

_**Next chapter! Now, as for what's going on in this chapter I might need to explain it a bit so nobody is confused. For those of you who don't read this because it's "too much work", enjoy being confused ¯**_ \\_(ツ)_/¯. _ **First of all, I want to explain that in this chapter I will be jumping through the years to show important things happening throughout the years Izaya was gone in chronological order. So don't worry about piecing it together, It goes in order, but will be switching between Izaya and Yachi's POVs often.**_

 _ **Also, HUGE HUGE thanks to one of my readers, GateBreaker, who has made a whole bunch of fanart in the story! Please check out their Deviantart! Their name is Hakumeihikari, so go give them some cuddles! Since this story is featured on AO3 as well, I will be pasting on of her pieces inside the chapter, with credit of course! Thank you so much GateBreaker! I wish I had some way to pay you back!**_

 _ **Anyways, enjoy!**_

– – – – –

 _~ One Month After Chapter 2 ~_

"I don't know if I can do it, Tou-chan.." Yachi whispered softly, holding onto his sleeve, staring at the small school in front of her with fear. In the month since she and her father had settled in to their new home, he had begun to tutor her and check to see what she knew. Luckily, the nurses at the hospital had taught her the things a child going into her grade needed to know, because of their small hope that one day, someone would be kind enough to help the girl. Thankfully, their hopes paid off. Now here she was, wearing her light blue shirt, white overall shorts, and a pretty blue bow on the top of her head as she stood in front of her new school.

Tou-chan knelt down to her height, gathering the girl into a gentle hug. "Don't worry, Yachi," He told her,"You are very very smart, and you have Sosuke there to help you out" His crimson eyes filled with slight worry and happiness, as he continued,"And when you are done, I'll be here to pick you up and take you home, and we'll get ice cream on the way home!" Yachi gasped, placing her hands together. "Really?" She asked hopefully. Tou-chan smiled and nodded at her. Then, he held up a finger and poked her nose.

"But," He began,"You have to promise to do your very best in school today, okay?" Yachi giggled and threw her arms around him, hugging her father tightly. "Yes Tou-chan! I promise!" She told him proudly. Her tou-chan smiled and ruffled her hair, being careful about the blue bow. It was rather big, but still pretty. Her hope was that it would help distract from how little hair she had. It was growing back, but it wasn't even past brushing her neck yet. Her tou-chan said she looked beautiful, but she couldn't help but feel shy.

"Yachi-chan!" Sosuke called, wearing his usual yellow shirt with brown shorts. Her friend had black hair in a bowl cut that was shaved from the forehead down. "Oh! Coming!" She called, allowing her father to kiss her forehead before turning and running after her best friend. Izaya watched her go and waved at her when she waved goodbye. Lisa was next to him, smiling as the children left. Some of the other moms recognized Izaya as the new man who moved into town, and were whispering excitedly at the sight of a single, handsome, family man.

Plus, everyone knew Lisa was happily married. She was always a peacekeeper, and when rumors started spreading she explained Izaya and his adopted daughter to her girl friends, so of course word spread quickly. "You seem like a very good father Orihara-san!" One of them called out,"You're daughter is such a well behaved child!" Izaya felt a little confused about all the attention he was suddenly getting, mainly because about two weeks ago everyone was still getting used to having them living in the town, now all the females were dying to speak to him.

With surprising modesty, Izaya replied,"I'm just trying to raise her the best I can, I wouldn't brag about it, I'm just trying to be a good father" The woman blushed and turned towards where some of the other females were and squealed," _Kyaa!_ And he's modest too!" Lisa merely rolled her eyes and them pushed on Izaya's shoulder, making him walk away from the school. With a small amount of childishness, Izaya pouted back towards the school. He couldn't help but be worried about his daughter, it was a paternal instinct after all.

Meanwhile, Yachi was staring shyly at the other students. She was standing behind Sosuke as the other children stared at her. "Guys, this is my friend, Orihara Yachi," Sosuke said proudly, moving and allowing Yachi to bow slightly as he introduced her. One girl, who had black hair and was wearing a red dress blinked her brown eyes curiously. "Oh! Did you just move here with that man?" She asked. Yachi's green eyes filled with excitement as she puffed out her chest proudly. "Yep! That's my Tou-chan!" She declared. The other students gasped in awe.

"What about your Okaa-san? Does she work on one of the big ships too?" A boy asked curiously. Yachi frowned slightly and whispered,"I don't have an Okaa-chan.. I was an orphan.. I was really sick. My Tou-chan was in the doctors' place when I was, and he helped me a lot. He adopted me! I don't mind not having an Okaa-san. My Tou-chan is awesome already!" The other kids smiled and nodded, or stared with awed eyes.

"Chi-chan!" Another voice rang out, and Yachi turned to see Sosuke with two robot action figures. "Want to play with me and Kiyoko?" He asked, holding out the dragon action figure that he was hiding in his other hand. Yachi smiled widely and nodded. "Yes! I'd love to Sosuke-kun!" She told him excitedly, and followed after her new friends.

Despite the fun, Yachi was still very happy to see her father after school. She waved to her friends before running to her father and hugging his leg tightly. He knelt down and hugged her back. "How was your day, Yachi?" He asked her after they had hugged for a while. "Oh! It was awesome Tou-chan! I was a dragon and I had to protect the town from the evil robots! And then sensei taught us some math and we read a book!" Yachi chattered happily, not even noticing when Lisa waved goodbye to them. Izaya swiftly returned the wave so she knew it had been received.

"Really? That sounds like a wonderful day!" Izaya told her happily, glad he wouldn't have to threaten any parents. Just because he was changing his ways didn't mean anyone who hurt his daughter wouldn't feel his wrath. "And you know what a wonderful day calls for?" Izaya asked her. Yachi gasped excitedly and then started jumping up and down. "Ice cream! Ice cream!"

Izaya and his daughter spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a bench under a sakura tree, enjoying the view and their ice cream.

– – – – – –

 _~ A Few Days Later ~_

"Aha!" Izaya exclaimed proudly, staring down at the pot on the stove. He was finally getting the hang of this whole cooking thing. He had tried a new recipe, which included pasta with Parmesan, crushed red pepper, parsley, oregano, spinach and shrimp. Yachi and Sosuke were at school, and this was usually when Lisa gave him lessons, just in case he lit anything on fire. Honestly that woman seemed to be good at everything. "Izaya-san! That looks delicious! I bet Yachi will love it!" She said. Izaya wrinkled his nose and shook his head.

"Nah, Yachi doesn't like shrimp," He explained,"It's like, the one thing she won't eat" Lisa thought about it for a moment, before smirking evilly and saying,"Just cut them up into smaller pieces so you can't tell that it's shrimp! Sosuke falls for that all the time, I've tricked him into eating his veggies like that so many times!" She giggled at her own tricks.

Izaya smiled and pointed the tongs at her. "I like the way you think," He said, before turning back to the pot. "I better do that will all the shrimp, Yachi's not an idiot. If she sees the shrimp in mine she'll guess it pretty quickly. I'd better just cut them all now," He explained, beginning to dig out the shrimp. Lisa smiled and messed with her short brown hair for a moment, nodding at his words before walking into the living room to let him finish his task.

Izaya had decorated the house beautifully. Two wooden couches with green cushions sat across from each other, each with it's one white and blue polka dotted pillow. A wooden coffee table in between them, that matched the light color of the hardwood floor. On one armrest-side of the couch was the sliding glass door with red curtains on either side, currently drawn back to let the morning sun in. The other armrest side had a nice stone fireplace, and two candles on either end of the mantle.

On the backside of the left couch was the bow window, that had flowers on the inside, with some nice wooden dressers that were filled with books, and Yachi's toys. The backside of the right couch led into the kitchen. Sitting on the coffee table was a black laptop. It was open and on a document of some sort. Curiosity got the best of the woman, her husband had always told her that was her weakness, so she moved to the couch.

 _A story..?_ She thought curiously, and began reading. Soon, she found herself immersed in an amazing story about fantasy, and adventure, the main character Shizuo was pretty amazing too. She knew that Izaya was pretty articulate, but this was fantastic! She had to stop reading, however, when she heard a cry of shock. Izaya was staring at her, crimson eyes wide with betrayal. "Why would you read that Lisa-san!?" He exclaimed, not seeming to care his white shirt now had some sauce on it.

"Izaya-san, this is amazing! It's such a great story, you need to publish it!" She told him. Izaya quickly flailed his arms and exclaimed,"I can't publish that! It's based off my own life! And I definitely can't release my name! If I do people will know it's based off them!" He tried to grab the laptop from her, but she swiftly moved away. "Izaya! It's simple then! Change the names, use a pen name for yourself! Please! At least try and publish this one, if they don't accept it after three tries, then I will never bother you about it ever again!" She begged,"This could be the perfect job for you! Think about how much Yachi loves books! She'd be so happy if you published one!"

She knew his weak point, Yachi was it. It was a perfect way to convince him to do something, he'd literally jump over the moon if it meant it would get Yachi to smile. He frowned and crossed his arms, muttering,"Fine, but be ready to eat your own words!" 

The joke was on Izaya, as his story was accepted on his first try.

– – – – – –

 _~ Six Months Later ~_

Izaya pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He was still getting used to wearing them, so he often had headaches. He had gone to the eye doctors because he was having issues, and learned his eyes were badly strained. Now he had to wear glasses, though he didn't mind much. His now five year old daughter had a field day helping him pick out a pair. They were black rectangular glasses with rounded ends, and the doctor told him he had to wear them often, and always when he was reading or using electronics. Which meant that he was wearing them a lot with his new job.

Wearing his usual fur coat, zipped up all the way, with a black knitted scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair, which had grown out, was in a small ponytail, his bangs falling into his eyes slightly. He knew he should probably cut it, but if it was short it would be pretty easy to recognize him, with or without glasses.

The children were exiting the school now, and Izaya puffed out a sigh of happiness, the cold air showing his breath. The other mothers still eyed him like he was some kind of prince, and it was extremely awkward. Lisa's teasing didn't help. "Yachi!" He called happily, waving his hand at the girl as he saw her walk out. The girl didn't wave to him like she usually did, and in fact seemed pretty slow on walking over to him. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, a strange bulge was coming out of the stomach of her blue fur jacket.

"Yachi.." He began sternly, wondering what she was trying to hide from her. "Can you show me what it is you're trying to hide?" He demanded in a soft voice. Yachi's cheeks were already red from the cold, but she blushed even more and then shook her head. Izaya frowned and asked,"Why not?" "Because you might get angry at me Tou-chan.." She whispered softly. Izaya blinked in confusion and knelt down to her height.

"Yachi, I'm sure that even if I get angry I can calm down quickly, when was the last time you saw me really angry?" He asked, running a finger against her cheek. A smile came on Yachi's face, as she giggled and replied,"It was when Aikawa-san locked you in until you finished your manuscript.." Izaya forced a smile at the thought of his over-eccentric editor. She always panicked over deadlines, even though Izaya had never missed one yet. The incident was the day before the deadline, and he needed to go pick up Yachi, but she decided that he needed to finish right away and locked him in the office. Luckily, Lisa had brought Yachi home.

"Yes, that's true, but I would never get that mad at you, Yachi, so can you show me please?" He asked her. Yachi didn't do anything for a moment before nodding, a soft smile still on her face. She slowly fumbled with her buttons, and when there was a small hole, he was very surprised at what came out. Out popped a spotted head of a puppy, who turned it's head towards Izaya. Out of habit, Izaya cried out in surprise and fell back into the snow. "W-w-where did you find it..?" Izaya asked in terror.

"He was in the bushes during recess, Tou-chan! There was no one with him and he was so cold and he was shivering, I had to help him Tou-chan!" Yachi quickly told him, her green eyes filled with determination. Izaya frowned, feeling slight fear at the sight of the dog. He sighed and said,"Yachi, I really don't like dogs.. I'm not sure if we can keep him.. I'm sure we could drop him off at the shelter in town and he can find a nice home"

Yachi looked extremely devastated at his words, and quickly frowned. "No! Tou-chan! We have a nice home! I know you don't like doggies but please! I want to take care of him, like you did for me!" She begged him, green eyes beginning to fill with tears. "Please! I'll be very very mature and take care of him! I promise!" She continued on. Izaya sighed again, feeling another headache coming on. When he looked in her eyes, he knew he wouldn't be able to say no. Plus, her words about taking care of him hurt his heart. He knew he couldn't say no. It would crush her little heart.

Pulling his black bangs from his face, only for the wind to blow them back into his face. "Alright," He said,"But that doesn't mean I have to like him, and you better be prepared to take responsibility for him, okay little lady?" He ruffled her hair as he spoke, making her giggle. "Okay Tou-chan!" She said happily.

When they got home, Izaya wondered if Yachi had broken some record for how fast she managed to change out of her outdoor shoes and into her house slippers. After doing so, the girl quickly went to the couch, opening her jacket and placing the puppy in front of the empty fireplace. Then, she grabbed the red blanket off the other couch and quickly wrapped the pup up like a burrito. "Tou-chan, I'm going to change out of my school clothes," She told him, breathing hard from puppy rescue mission.

"Okay, I guess I'll keep an eye on the thing. How does beef stew sound for dinner?" He asked. "Yes!" Yachi exclaimed from the stairs. "Tou-chan's beef stew is the best beef stew!" He heard her door close and chuckled. _It's not even my recipe, but alright, if you say so.._ He thought in amusement. He heard a clicking on the hardwood floors. Out of instinct, Izaya's eyes quickly turned to see what it was. There he saw the puppy, whom still had the blanket on his backside, staring at him.

The puppy was white with black spots, and it had blue eyes and big paws. He looked like he might trip over them if he wasn't careful. He was also eying Izaya with something akin to excitement and friendship. "No! Don't you dare!" Izaya declared, pointing the spoon he was holding at the puppy. "I know how you evil creatures work!" The puppy merely tilted his head to Izaya's words.

Going back to making dinner, Izaya found that every time he turned his eyes towards the puppy, he was still sitting. However, he was getting progressively closer. He sighed and shook his head, moving back towards the counter when something wet slid against his ankle. Squealing like a child, Izaya jumped on top of the counter. "Yachi! He's trying to kill me!" He yelled, pointing at the innocent-looking puppy.

He could hear a giggle as the little girl ran downstairs. She was wearing her favorite red sweater, with her black pajama pants, his fur jacket wrapped around her as well. She must have snatched it off the coat rack when he wasn't paying attention. "Tou-chan! He's just trying to say hello!" Yachi told him softly. "That's what he wants us to think! He was probably preparing the eat me!" Izaya declared, pointing at the puppy still, who obviously had no idea what he did.

Yachi crossed into the kitchen and then picked up the puppy, who excitedly squirmed and tried to lick her. She placed the puppy on the counter and said,"Not all doggies are bad, Tou-chan! Please, just give him a chance! I bet you will like him!" The puppy turned and saw Izaya, and instantly it's tail started wagging very very fast. He trotted over to Izaya's side and barked happily, before laying his muzzle on Izaya's arm.

Awkwardly, Izaya pet him with his other arm, and felt a strange fondness in his heart, like the one he held for Yachi. "I guess.." He began, watching the puppy cuddle against him. "I guess there is an exception to every rule.." He said softly, watching as Yachi grinned happily at his words. "Yay! See? I told you that you would like him, Tou-chan!" She said cheerfully. Izaya smiled and said,"Yeah, I guess I do.."

Later that night, Izaya carried Yachi and the newest member of their family up to their room. _Never thought I would actually like a dog.._ Izaya thought curiously, as he tucked Yachi in, placing the puppy on the bed next to her. He got a small lick on his hand as he did so, and couldn't stop the smile that came onto his face.

– – – – –

 _~ One Year Later ~_

Another year had come by swiftly for the small family. A few interesting things had happened, as it turned out the puppy Yachi had picked up was a Great Dane puppy. He was extremely huge now, and they named aptly named him Yeti. The dog was nothing like the ones that chased Izaya up a pole in middle school, he was a big lovable oaf. However, he also did not seem to realize how big he was, as he still continued to try and climb on Izaya's lap, or try and get through the puppy sized dog door before Izaya could replace it.

Winter had returned with a vengeance, and it was beyond freezing. Izaya was walking down the sidewalk of a city in the Hyogo Prefecture, they had been visiting to discuss a new book with Aikawa, and meet Usami Akhiko. One of his books, loosely based on him and Shizuo, had become a success under his fake name: Psyche, and the other author had been curious. He had taken Yachi along to show her the sights of the city, having remembered them from when he traveled to the city on informant business. Unfortunately, they had to cut the adventure short, as it started to snow pretty bad.

Yachi was bundled up once more, even having earmuffs over her ears and scarf pulled above her nose and mouth. She had been exhausted from the excitement of the day, and he was now carrying the six year old gently. He was glad he started working out again, to have strength to do such things. Izaya was pretty much the same, except his winter coat was a little thinner, though his hands were covered in gloves. The snow was pretty bad, but he supposed he preferred it over the rain that was supposed to come down today. _That would have iced over very quickly.._ Izaya thought. _Very dangerous.._

The roads were surprisingly silent, and Izaya was able to relax as he walked down the street, trying to find the train station past all the snow. He heard Yachi humming, and felt her squirming against him. "Tou-chan..?" She asked sleepily,"Are we home yet..?" Izaya ran a hand through her gentle hair, which was now down to her shoulders. Yachi had decided she liked it that way, and she looked absolutely beautiful with her two little pieces of hair sticking up and side bangs. "Not yet sweetie, we're almost at the station though," He told her gently.

"Mmmkay.." Yachi managed to murmer out. "We gotsta hurry though.. Yeti will be lonely.." Izaya chuckled a little and rubbed her back in a comforting manner. "He's a big boy, he can take care of himself for a while," He told her with determination. Yachi released a few giggles and replied,"But Tou-chan, you're always calling him an overgrown baby.."

"Maybe when he stops trying to sit in the cat's bed or stops running into things because he thinks he's still a puppy I will stop calling him that," Izaya declared. Over the year, they also had gotten many kitty visitors, they still continue to feed the cats that come around. However, two had decided to stay for good. The first, a Japanese Bobtail, had shown up as a kitten, and acted much more like a puppy than a cat. Maybe it was because Yeti was still a puppy when she showed up.

She was very lovable cat, and often liked to be in at least on of their laps whenever they were doing something. She also was very talkative, Izaya liked to pretend to ask her something, because the cat would always meow back. She had white fur, with black and orange splotches, with one orange eye and one blue eye and a bushy bobtail. Yachi and Izaya decided on the name Pooch, because of her silly personality.

The second cat was almost the complete opposite. He was an older cat, a ginger furred Persain, with a scrunched up face and huge, bushy fur. He had an ugly face, and was much calmer than Pooch. He tended to prefer laying in a sunny spot and relaxing his old bones. Whenever Pooch tried to get him to play, he would meow angrily, or bat at her weakly before laying down again. Despite being rather grumpy, he enjoyed being pet, and would often curl up next to them or on their laps, especially if they were sitting by the sliding door. They named him Rusty, it fit for his age and fur color. Izaya didn't mind the two cats, or their several cat visitors. It brought more excitement, and Yachi and Yeti always got very happy as well.

Izaya suddenly shook himself out of his thoughts at the sound of a noise. It sounded like shrill crying, and sounded like it was coming near him. Izaya frowned at that noise, at first he was going to ignore it, thinking it was some hopeless drunk. However, the noise continued. He stopped on the sidewalk, dodging the people around him, jerking Yachi by accident. The girl's half-lidded eyes jerked open. "Huh..?" She stuttered out,"Tou-chan? What' going on?"

"I thought I heard something, like a baby crying.." Izaya explained to his daughter, looking down at her. "Do you think you could walk for a while? I need to see if there really is a child down there.." He continued, staring down the alleyway. He knew what do do if they were attacked, but he didn't think that would happen. He just had a feeling. Yachi had a very serious face now, and nodded firmly. She squirmed out of his arms, holding his hand still, and followed after him.

The noise got louder and louder as they walked closer, but it was still very hard to see anything in the snow. Izaya quickly and skillfully opened an umbrella with experience. They were right by the noise, so Izaya merely held the umbrella out in front of him, cutting off the snow from it's intended path. Looking underneath the umbrella, he saw something that made him gasp. It was a baby, which couldn't be more than a month old, a slight coat of snow on it as it sobbed inside of a cardboard box, nothing but a thin blanket covering it's lower half. "Oh my god!" He whispered, before motioning Yachi over.

The girl gasped at the sight, gloved hands coming to cover her mouth. Her green eyes looked like they were filling with tears. "Yachi, hold the umbrella over the baby," Izaya ordered her, to which the girl quickly complied. He removed his gloves quickly, placing them in the snow next to him as he knelt down, reaching for the baby. He wiped the snow off as fast as he could, before scooping the baby out of the box and making sure to support him. The baby instantly stopped crying, but didn't look too good he was pale, and shivering. _Shit.._

Izaya quickly managed to pull his long red scarf off his neck, the cold biting his skin, before he wrapped the baby as best he could without suffocating him. "Yachi, we need to take him to a hospital, he'll die at this rate.." Izaya told his daughter, who merely nodded firmly. The two did just that, Izaya had Yachi call 119, making sure the ambulance got there quickly.

At the hospital, Yachi lost it. They were in the waiting room, and Yachi buried herself in his chest, sobbing vocally. "How could someone do that Tou-chan!?" She demanded, clutching at his jacket. "It's horrible! They left him to die in the snow! They didn't want him!" Izaya felt like he might get emotional soon as well, but he knew he needed to stay strong for his daughter. He pet her hair gently and said,"Not everyone is nice Yachi, those people just don't realize what an amazing gift they had been given.."

Yachi sobbed even more, and exclaimed,"Well they could have done something! They could have left him at an orphanage! Not out in the snow!" Izaya continued to comfort the girl, rocking her gently until her sobbing ceased. "Sweetheart, I wish everyone could think the way you do, but some people are just filled with too much darkness in their heart, and they don't realize the light until it's too late.. I was just lucky, that my light happened to be in the same hospital as me," He explained to her, smiling and poking at her snotty nose.

Yachi looked up at him, her puffy eyes filled with wonder. "Really..? I'm your light?" She asked. Izaya smiled and kissed her head. "Yes Yachi, without you, I would never have been able to change into a good person and be happy.." He told her.

"Did you have any other lights?" The girl asked softly, rubbing her nose with her sleeve. Izaya gently removed her sleeve and said,"Use a tissue sweetie, and yes, I did. However, I didn't see it until it was too late.. Remember the strong man I told you about?" Now with a tissue against her runny nose, Yachi nodded. Izaya continued his story,"I was mean to the strong man from the beginning, I called him a monster, but while I was in the hospital, I realized that he was much more human than almost everyone I had ever met.. And I wished that I could go back and fix everything.."

Yachi looked up at him and softly said,"But Tou-chan, then you would have never met me" Izaya smiled and said,"I know that, and I will never regret meeting you, Yachi. But I just wish that me and him could have been friends, you know?"

"Do you think he would forgive you..?" Yachi asked softly. Izaya sighed and said,"I doubt it, but even if he did, I don't deserve his forgiveness anyway.. After everything I put him through" Yachi frowned before hugging his chest and saying,"Tou-chan, but you're much better now, remember? You told me you were bad before, but you are much better now.. You've re.. Re.."

"Redeemed?"

"Yes!" Yachi exclaimed,"You've redeemed yourself!" Izaya smiled at her a bit before saying,"Yeah.. I guess I did.." Yachi nodded firmly and then leaned against his chest, before asking,"Can you tell me about the headless rider again?"

– – – – –

The doctor finally came out hours later, somehow Yachi was still awake. She declared she wasn't going to sleep until they could check on the baby. However, she nearly fell off her chair from falling asleep upright. But when she saw the doctor, she jumped up, Izaya following her.

"Is he okay?" Yachi asked worriedly. The doctor smiled down at her before looking up at Izaya and saying,"You are a lifesaver, young man, any longer and that baby would have died.. We've managed to save him, but we want to keep him a few days for observation.." Izaya and Yachi's tensed shoulders slumped with relief, before Yachi questioned,"What's going to happen to him once he's better?"

"Well, he's being very fussy still, but after he calms down he will probably be put into an orphanage, not much else we can do.." The doctor said. "May we go see him?" Izaya asked worriedly. The doctor frowned for a moment, before shrugged and saying,"I guess so, since you guys were the ones who found her. I don't think my superiors will mind"

Izaya followed the doctor, Yachi's hand in his and into the room where the baby was. Izaya finally got a good look at him. He had blonde, messy fuzz on his head, and his eyes were closed, but he being very fussy and making small whining noises. As soon as Izaya approached the baby bed he was being kept in, the baby calmed down once more. Izaya blinked in surprise. It was just like in the alley. "Oh?" The doctor thought in curiosity. "It seems you have a way with children, sir. He wasn't responding to anyone else!"

Izaya stared at the child, who slowly opened his eyes, fists still clenched. His eyes were a stunning blue, which surprised Izaya. He knew Yachi was surprised as well, and she looked up at Izaya suddenly. "Can we take him home with us?" She asked. Izaya looked down at her, away from the baby. "You want me to adopt him?" Izaya asked.

Yachi blushed and looked down, shyly messing with her fingers before stuttering,"I just.. W-we found him.. and I don't w-want him to grow up alone.. Like I almost did.." Neither of them spoke up about the fact Yachi wouldn't have lived to see adulthood, it was an unspoken rule not to mention her sickness. But he understood where she was coming from. And looking back towards the doctor, he calmly asked,"May we adopt him?"

The doctor's grey eyes filled with happiness, as he said,"That would be wonderful sir.." He walked out of the room with excitement, possibly to help everything get set up. Yachi gave a happy giggle of excitement and hugged Izaya 's side tightly. "Yay! I'm gonna be a big sister!" She told Izaya happily. Izaya chuckled at her excitement and ruffled her hair, before saying,"Yes, yes you are"

"What are we going to name him?" Yachi asked softly,"He's got to have a name" Izaya turned back towards the baby, warmth filling his heart once more, his crimson eyes softening. He knew the perfect name for his new son. "Yukine," He began,"Orihara Yukine"

And just like that, their family grew once more

– – – – –

~ Six Months Later ~

The next six months had been stressful. Izaya had to get Lisa's help for caring for infants, as he had raised Yachi from an older age. His sleeping schedule was messed up once more, and meeting deadlines became harder. Luckily, Aikawa understood. Yukine was a lot of work. He got sick easily, especially after his incident in the snow. Luckily, he was growing up like a healthy baby boy. Izaya had made the downstairs bedroom his room, with a baby monitor in his own room. His eyes were fully open, in all their blue glory. (Lisa enjoyed pointing out that their family was filled with unnatural eye colors) He had started babbling, but hadn't said any real words yet, despite Yachi's desperate attempts to make his first word be Yachi. He was also crawling around a little, Izaya made sure to keep a close eye on him during his little adventures.

Surprisingly, Yeti and Pooch were very gentle with baby Yukine. They still got very excited very easily, but they never ran around the baby, and neither minded being yanked or poked. Rusty tolerated Yukine, but tended to stay away from the reaching hands. Lisa was an amazing helper, and Sosuke was very proud of his technical older brother status, as was Yachi with her big sister status. Izaya felt very relieved he was able to care for Yukine, and that he had so much help.

Today was the summer festival, and they were all going out. Lisa's husband, Koichi, had come back from his ship just in time to make it. Right now, they were all preparing for the festival. The now 27 year old Izaya was helping place flowers in his daughter's hair, and fix her Obi on her pink flowered kimono. "Tou-chan! We gotta hurry or we'll miss the parade!" Yachi exclaimed, looking towards her dad. Yukine giggled at her excitement from his high chair, babbling and clapping his hands together. He was wearing a small blue Yukata that matched his eyes, the clear ocean blue, while Izaya was wearing a red Yukata.

His hair also had some ornaments, per request of Yachi. He had a few flowers and stars, his hair still up in it's usual style nowadays. "Yachi, the parade isn't for another hour, we have plenty of time," He told her calmly. She still wiggled as he finished tying it. Once he was done, she jumped up excitedly and cheered. "Yay! Let's go!" She bolted towards the door.

"Young lady, wait for me to get your brother! And change out of your house slippers!" He called to her firmly. Yachi blushed and shyly apologized, before walking back to the Genkan and changing her shoes. Izaya picked up his son, changing both their shoes, as Yukine continued to babble on. Yeti barked excitedly on his leash, ready for the day. Pooch had worn herself out earlier, and was currently resting with Rusty, but Yeti was okay to come.

"Let's go pick up Sosuke-kun and his family!" Yachi exclaimed, running down the hill as the Great Dane followed after her with long strides, his tail wagging happily. They got to the door, and Sosuke quickly opened the door and yelled,"Chi-chan!" He hugged his best friend happily, while Lisa and Koichi walked out. Koichi was a normal man, with a string build and short brown hair. He enjoyed Izaya's company, they became good friends quickly. Lisa's hair was up in a short ponytail, a headband in it, as she wore her blue and white kimono. Koichi and Sosuke wore the same, but as Yukatas.

"Let's go!" The two children yelled, Yeti barking with their excitement, running down the rest of the hill. "Such energetic kids.." Lisa chuckled softly. "I didn't even give Yachi any sweets today.." Izaya said,"But she really loves these festivals, she could hardly stand still while I was putting on her Kimono, my seven month old was calmer than his big sister"

Lisa laughed softly and Koichi smiled. "Well, children will be children. We would know after all, and we'll be expecting it again!" Lisa told him, her hand going on her stomach. It took Izaya a second. "Whoa! You're pregnant Lisa-chan?" He asked in surprise. "Yes!" Koichi said proudly,"But don't tell Sosuke yet, we want to surprise him. He has always wanted a baby sibling, and now that I am off season, I can be here for the birth and taking care of the baby"

"That's wonderful!" Izaya said happily, while Yukine babbled on still. They finally made it to the parade on the street. Yachi and Sosuke were helped up by Lisa and Koichi, which Izaya held onto Yukine and Yeti sat at his side. The children cheered through the entire parade, growing more and more excited, especially when one of the mascots bowed at Yachi. "Tou-chan! Tou-chan! Did you see him?" Yachi asked him. Izaya smiled widely, nodded to her excitement.

Once the parade was over, they went and explored the stands. Yukine was continuously grabbing for Izaya's fatty tuna, giving upset whines. "Yukine, you don't even have three teeth yet, you can't have my fatty tuna," He told the baby playfully. He could eat pureed food, luckily Izaya had brought some. Yukine transfeered off of milk pretty well, but now he thought he was old enough to already eat solids, when he still didn't have all his teeth.

"Tou-chan! Look at that game!" Yachi suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards the balloon dart game. The prize was a huge Totoro plush. "Can we play?" Both children asked,"Pretty please?" Izaya smiled a bit and said,"I don't have a problem with it, as long as I can try after you guys" The children went to the stand, paying for the three darts. None of them hit the balloons. Yachi and Sosuke looked very upset. Izaya looked to Lisa and shyly asked,"Can you hold Yukine for a moment?" Lisa, who seemed to know what he was doing, nodded and picked up the blond baby for him.

Giving the vendor some money, Izaya said,"Give me two sets of darts" The vendor nodded and handed him the six darts. A crowd started to gather as the 27 year old put three darts in each hand. The vendor was far enough away, and he had been practicing. With a whip of both hands, he sent the darts flying, popping six balloons simultaneously in two perfect lines. The crowd gasped in surprise while Yachi cheered. "Yeah! Go Tou-chan!" She exclaimed, then looked towards a random member of the crowd. "That's my Tou-chan!" She informed them.

"That was amazing!" The vendor exclaimed,"You win, sir! Pick the two prizes, heck pick three!" Izaya turned towards his daughter and her best friend. "Totoro!" Yachi exclaimed, pointing to the biggest one. "I want Goku!" Sosuke demanded, before quickly adding,"Please" Izaya picked out small plush panda for Yukine. he vendor gave them their prizes, and Izaya retrieved his dog and son.

"You think that was cool, kiddies, you should see me play the ball game!" Koichi declared,"While I was in America, I learned quite the curve ball!" At the bottle game, he proved his words by knocking over all the bottles with one throw. "Whoa!" Sosuke exclaimed. "Tou-chan you have to teach me how to do that!"

The day was very eventful. Yachi had new necklaces, and had tried an assortment of foods with Sosuke. Yeti had stolen plenty of food. They had danced to the music, and made the adults wear squid hats. Then, they all sat down to watch the beautiful fireworks. In the end, both the children and the adults were tired, Yukine managed to fall asleep during the fireworks, and Yeti looked exhausted. They all walked home together, parting ways at Lisa's house, whom carried the sleepy Sosuke inside.

Once in his house, he removed Yeti's leash and the dog instantly collapsed in his bed. Pooch was grooming herself on the dining table while Rusty was nuzzling against Izaya's legs. Yukine and Yachi were both yawning, so Izaya quickly took Yukine and put him in his pajamas, he fell asleep instantly, still clutching his panda plushie.

Izaya removed the flowers from Yachi's hair, and helped her change out of the complicated kimono, before getting rid of the jewelry. With her stuffed dog and new giant Totoro, she curled into her bed. "I love you Tou-chan.." She told him sleepily, eyes closing. Izaya placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before saying,"I love you too, Yachi" Once she fell asleep, he turned off the light and went downstairs.

He filled the outdoor and indoor cat bowls, as well as Yeti's bowl, before going to his laptop and connecting his camera to it. He uploaded the photos onto his computer, and then saved them in a file. The photos of the kids with sparklers, the squid hats, Izaya's awesome dart throwing, Koichi's curveball, the food, Yeti's snacking, the fireworks, and the parade. Lisa had managed to catch the mascot bowing with Yachi.

He smiled at the photos, and thought about how much he had changed in the past three years. He used to be a manipulative informant broker, who had a god complex and took joy in hurting others. Now, he was a father of two with a stable job and he couldn't be happier. He never thought he would enjoy peace so much. Quickly, he sent an email to Lisa, sending her the photos like she requested, before shutting the laptop and stretching.

He let out a relaxed noise, before walking up the stairs and into his room. After changing into his pajamas, he opened his balcony door and walked out. Leaning on it much like he did their first day moved in. The waves and the spray of water helped him relax after a long and exciting day. Taking a deep breath before exhaling, he walked back inside and shut his sliding door, closing the curtains as well.

Izaya climbed into bed and stared up at the ceiling, feeling two weights on his bed. Pooch and Rusty were on his bed, obviously happy if their purring was anything to judge by. He smiled happy as well, as his heavy lids got the better of him and he fell into a peaceful sleep, enjoying the way his life was now, and knowing he would never trade it for anything.

Little did he know, that his peaceful life was about to be ruptured and flipped around with the arrival of some old faces..


	4. Chapter 4

_**The next chapter has arrived! Thanks to all of you who read this and review! I love reading what you think, and remember I'll take suggestions if you'd like! Now, the time has come. We must bring back everyone from Ikebukuro! I have been excited to write this!**_

 _ **Just so you know, I may have planned the chapter out but I am still adding things as I go. I have absolutely no idea if the others will meet with Izaya again in this chapter, if not then it will definitely be next chapter. Thank you all for reading, and enjoy!**_

 _ **Special Note: The beginning of this is an excerpt from the book I am writing, called the Destruction of Creation. Also I am ignoring SH because I can.**_

– – – – –

" _I can't do it"_

 _Benishiri lowered the gun and stared down at Takahiro, her eyes were filled with struggle, and despair. "I can't do it, Takahiro.." She whispered, lowering her magic covered hand. Despite her secret alleigance throughout their whole marriage, somehow she had grown a fondness for him. She wasn't sure if it was the same love he shared towards her, even after she had betrayed him, but she knew that she could never kill the father of her child._

 _Takahiro weakly gave her a smile, ignoring the pain from his injuries. "See?" He croaked,"Despite what you say, I knew you had some good in you still, Beni.." Beni looked down at the pacifist, tears tumbling down her eyes. She released a weak laugh and whispered,"Even after all that we've put you through.. You never changed.."_

 _Before he could open his mouth to respond, she was suddenly pulling him up and placing her hand on his cheek. Her eyes were filled with acceptance, and love. "Takahiro.." She whispered,"Please, Sakura is on the door closest to the castle entrance, take her, take our daughter and get as far away from here as possible, I will try to buy you some time.."_

 _"But what about you?" Takahiro demanded,"If I leave, they'll kill you.. I can't let that happen-" "You can't save everyone, Takahiro!" Benishiri yelled,"And you are the only one who can stop Allfather from destroying innocents all over Aurora! Take our daughter and leave!" She pushed on his chest, making him stumble and fall back._

 _"I'll come back for you.." He whispered at her turned back. Benishiri could hear him leaving, but she couldn't turn to face him, she knew if she did, she would want to go with him. However, she needed to help him escape. She knew.. She knew in the end, that he would come back for her. But it would be too late. Allfather always knew, and she knew that her death was near. A bittersweet smile appeared on her face. At least, in her dying moments, she knew that her family would like on without her._

Celty placed a hand on her heart, she was sure that if she had a head, she would be crying. She was reading a new book in one of her favorite book series. She had found it two years ago, and enjoyed the fantasy very much. It was about a land filled with magic, yet the main character didn't have any. He was the one destined to defeat the Allfather. And his wife turned out to be a spy the whole time. It made Celty hate her, but then she did that.

Honestly, no book could bring out her emotions like this, except books written by Psyche. The author had appeared out of the blue, his first book was a bestseller, and Celty started reading them almost instantly. It had been pretty peaceful in Ikebukuro since Izaya and Shizuo's final fight, and her regaining and then giving back her head. Sure, there were still some gangs, and Shizuo still threw things sometimes, but there was never as much chaos as before.

There hadn't been any major fights between gangs in the past two and a half years. She knew part of the reason, it was that there was no one creating chaos for them to fight in. Her thoughts drifted to another topic, placing the book down on her lap. Yes, Orihara Izaya, the man who loved to torment people and watch them burn to the ground, the one who always got Shizuo in trouble with the law, and made people scared of him. Yes, everyone hated him, but after his final fight with Shizuo, he vanished.

Celty didn't even know if he was alive or not. Not that she missed him or anything, but to be honest she liked it a lot better when she at least knew where he was, so she could go and make sure he left Shinra out of his dirty schemes. She also missed the high amount of money he would pay her for jobs. But, it was much better in the city without him there, more peaceful, and people weren't as scary.

Masomi Kida and his girlfriend stayed in the city, Kida even got a job. He still ran the Yellow Scarves, but they didn't cause as much trouble. Anri graduated from school and was now running her family business, Sonohara Hall. Mikado, unfortunately, was held back a year because of his time in the hospital, but he had now graduated and was dating Anri, gaining back some of his kinder personality. They all would often stop by and chat for a while with Celty and Shinra.

While the kids changed a lot, Celty knew that some people would never change. Shizuo actually tended to be able to hold in his temper better, but the occasional street sign or person got hurtled during his debt collecting with Tom. Dota-chin and his gang were exactly the same, actually, Erika might have gotten even louder. Simon remained the same, though he has told Celty that he wishes that the fight that happened between Izaya and Shizuo never happened. Varona visited sometime, but not often. Not that Celty cared. Honestly that girl scared her a bit. Another person who hadn't changed much was-

"Oh!" The person she was just thinking about walked in the room. Shinra smiled at her and said,"Hello, my dearest Celty! Are you enjoying the book?" Celty whipped out her PA, and quickly typed a message.

" **It's really good, but this part is so sad!"**

"Oh? Did you get to the part where the wife died?"

 _Tap, tap, tap, tap_

" **You knew about it already?!"**

Shinra blushed sheepishly, before smiling and saying,"I was out getting groceries and ran into Kadota-kun, Erika-chan wouldn't stop talking about it. She said she didn't care because she thinks Takahiro belongs with Cindy anyways" Celty shrugged her shoulders, before tapping on the keys again.

" **She does realize she can't ship everything, right?"**

"You know how she is, but in the end it really is up to the author"

 _Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap_

" **You're right, but that's even worse. Psyche is such a good writer, but he's unpredictable!"**

Shinra grinned cheekily and replied,"That's why Psyche is a bestselling author, his books are so good, and you never know what's going to happen next!" Celty nodded her helmet, before putting her bookmark in the book and setting it on the coffee table. Shinra smiled lovingly at her. He was so happy lately, they even spent a while touring Japan. Things were perfect, in his mind. Sitting down beside Celty, he put down his coffee cup and then picked up the remote, turning on the television.

The channel the television was on when he first turned it on was the news, and what he saw made him jump and drop the remote. "What in the world?" He asked. Celty tilted her lack of a head at what was on the television as well.

 _"Reports are coming in that just a few minutes ago, in one of the busiest sections of Ikebukuro, someone ran into the crowds and attacked random passersby. Ten people were injured, two are in critical condition. The attacker's face was not seen, nor have they been caught, the police are investigating the incident as we speak,"_ The news woman said. Images on the screen showed police talking to people, and the closed off area. There was a lot of blood.

The news woman continued _,"Witnesses say that though they didn't catch the attacker's face, the attacker did not have anything on themselves that could have linked them to any of the gangs that are currently known in Ikebukuro. If you have any information, please contact your local police department"_ Shinra frowned a bit, running a hand through his hair. That was.. Strange. Something like that usually wasn't reported on, but then again stuff like that hadn't happened a lot in the past three years. Ever since Izaya vanished.

Shinra never went back to that hospital after he said those things to his old friend, he never looked back either. And, as far as he knew, he was the only one who knew Izaya was still alive. He did miss him a little, but he did not regret anything that he said. Plus, Celty and all of his other friends were way safer without that monster around.

Somebody was poking his cheek, he realized as he came back to reality. Celty quickly shoved her PA in his face once she saw he was back from lala land.

" **Should we look into that?"**

The thought of Celty doing anything dangerous anymore, though she still did, sent shivers up his spine. So, he thought logically and came up with a solution. "We live in a big city, things like this can happen a lot. This could have been a one-time thing, somebody losing their cool over something. If it keeps happening, we'll definitely look into it, okay?" He told her. Seeming satisfied, Celty nodded, before picking her book back up and beginning to read again.

– – – – –

Unfortunately, things couldn't work out the way Shinra had hoped.

Attacks continued to happen, there was no real way to see why the attacks were happening. No more Saika children were showing up, and nobody had caught the attacker's face yet. Every attack was somehow random, during the day when there was a large crowd of people. Gang members had started getting attacked, and now they were placing the blame on other gangs as well. Chaos was starting to return to Ikebukuro, all because nobody could catch this _one_ person.

Nobody saw their face, nobody knew who they were aligned with. People were growing paranoid they would be attacked. Shinra thought he might know a suspect, but it was too soon to say anything yet.

Shinra had spoken to Shizuo about it, the man was extremely enraged. Shizuo hated violence, and seeing all these innocent (for the most part) people getting attacked, it drove him up the wall. He was much more on guard, especially when he was around his friends, he didn't want anyone hurt.

The three teens were not in on it. Shinra questioned all three. Masomi was having more trouble keeping the yellow scarves _out_ of the issue, Mikado had heatedly told him that Anri and him would never cause such trouble after finally getting some peace, and that he hadn't asked the Dollars anything, but they were all trying to figure out who the attacker was as well. Shinra just hoped they would learn who the attacker was soon, because if they didn't find the culprit, Shinra knew what he would have to do.

– – – – –

"Okay, but get this," Erika began. "The attacker is like, the binge eater from Tokyo Ghoul!" She declared, spreading her hands out as she spoke. Walker looked up from his new Fairy Tail manga to answer her question. "But that wouldn't make any sense," He responded,"If it was a binge eater wouldn't they be eating the people that they attacked instead of running away?"

Kadota looked back at them from the passenger seat, idly turning the pages of his novel. "Ghouls don't exist," He interjected,"If they did, they could have started attacking and killing people a long time ago" Erika turned her eyes towards him, crossing her arms and gaining a pouty face. "Don't act like just because you're reading a Psyche novel that you are instantly better than all of us, Dota-chin!" She removed her hat, flipping her hair to enunciate her point.

"Don't call me that," Kadota hissed, before he continued,"Besides, you read Psyche's novels too, everyone does. He's considered one of the best authors in Japan" Saburo's dark eyes watched the road carefully, but he still listened in to the conversation. "Psyche's first book was a bestseller, topped charts in less than a week, plus it's like, the only thing you read that isn't manga," Saburo declared.

Erika squirmed in her seat and said,"Because his stories are interesting! Plus his characters are awesome! I bet if he started writing yaoi manga, it would be a huge hit!" Walker smiled, before turning back to his manga. "You do realize he's a novelist, right? Most people tend to stick in one genre," He said,"Besides, if Psyche ever did start writing manga, it would probably be an action manga like Fairy Tail or Boku no Hero Academia, not some boy's love story"

"You all just don't know real art when you see it!" Erika shrieked, waving her hands around, before tossing a Kamisama Kiss book into the back of Kadota's seat. "Erika! I will come back there and-" Kadota didn't get to continue his rant, as he saw a familiar blonde on the street. Shizuo was sitting on a park bench, a cigarette held loosely between his lips.

The male was still in his usual bartender suit, his elbow resting on his knee and hand against his cheek. His blue glasses were sliding off his nose slightly, but the bags under his eyes suggested he was too tired to care. Saburo seemed to notice he was staring at Shizuo, and slowly pulled over by the infamous blonde. "Hey Shizuo," Kadota called after rolling down the window,"You okay?"

It was only really known by those closest to Shizuo how he was feeling since he and Izaya fought for the last time. Despite the fact he managed to reign in his temper much better than before, he felt extremely guilty, especially not knowing whether or not Izaya was alive. None of them did, and truthfully, Kadota wished that Izaya was still alive. Maybe he could have changed since Shizuo beat him.. But that probably wasn't possible. It was Izaya, after all.

Shizuo suddenly jerked slightly, as if he hadn't noticed that Kadota was there. The blonde quickly looked up at him, mocha eyes slightly drowsy. "Huh?" He asked,"Oh yeah.. I'm okay.. Just kinda pissed about all these attacks, y'know?"

Kadota could understand. At first, people thought Shizuo might be the one causing the attacks, and he was almost arrested, but then the attacker struck again while Shizuo was at the scene, so he was off the hook. However, people were even more afraid of him, and Shizuo hated violence in the first place. He was trying so hard to catch the attacker, but the ex-bartender was always too late, or just a hair away from getting them. It frustrated him that innocent lives were being taken.

"I understand, dude. I had hoped the peace would last longer than it has.." Kadota replied calmly. Shizuo nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette. For several seconds, nothing was said. Erika frowned a bit, listening to them start up a small conversation. She knew that he was just trying to help Shizuo feel a little better. She turned away from the window, and turned to look at Walker. He had a frown much similar to hers, his brows creased in worry.

She sighed a bit, and then turned back around, and gasped. In the background, barley in view, she saw the silhouette of someone very familiar. It was the attacker. "Dota-chin! DOTA-CHIN!" Erika shrieked. The attacker suddenly started running forward, towards Shizuo.

"Don't call me th-" Kadota didn't get to finish his sentence as Erika suddenly leapt up and practically climbed over him to stick herself out the window. "SHIZUO! Behind you! Behind you!" She yelled, watching the silhouetted figure leap up.

Shizuo sprung up faster than anyone could see, but this made the attacker land on his back. From their sleeve came a large needle, and they stabbed it into Shizuo's shoulder. Shizuo threw his elbow back, sending the attacker flying back, rolling over several times. "What the fuck was that.. You bastard.." Shizuo growled, stumbling a bit, before he fell to his knees and fell forward onto the ground.

"Shizuo!" Kadota yelled, yanking off his seat belt and leaping out of the truck. He froze for a moment, he dark eyes turning to look where the figure had rolled to. For several seconds, no one moved. But, the attacker never came back. After nothing happened, Kadota quickly flipped Shizuo over. Shizuo looked fine, he was out cold though.

"Erika! Walker! Help me! We are going to Shinra's!" He called, as the two okatus helped him carry the blond into their van, and drove off most likely faster than the legal speed limit. Meanwhile, a silhouette watched them from where they had fallen into the shadows.

– – – – –

"Shinra!"

Said doctor jumped in surprise when his door was suddenly slammed open, dropping his coffee cup. He knew Kadota's voice when he heard it, and he sounded very distressed. He quickly went to the door, opening it to nearly get bowled over.

"What the hell happened?!" He demanded, seeing Shizuo unconscious. That was something he had never seen before. Even after Shizuo was shot, he still didn't pass out. What could have happened?! He quickly led them to his makeshift hospital room while listening to their story.

Kadota was the one to explain. "We were talking with Shizuo and that damn attacker came out of nowhere! He stabbed him with something and Shizuo just collapsed!" He explained, sounding very panicked and angry, more angry than Shinra had ever seen.

"And then they vanished!" Erika added in terror. Shinra began checking Shizuo vitals, while the others stood by in fear. Walking in the doorway was Anri and Mikado, looking rather drowsy.

They had come to his house after there had been an attack right outside both of their apartments, and requested to stay with him for safety, since neither of their places had very good security, and the ways to the trains were crowded. Since they had allowed them in their house before, they accepted. Masomi had come as well, yelling at the two of them for making him worry. After that he declared, in a much more disrespectful way than his friends, that he was staying.

Celty had also joined them, but was hovering nearby Shinra, following him with her PA pushed against her chest. She obviously wanted to ask about Shizuo, but didn't want to stop him from working. After a few more minutes, Shinra stopped his frantic pace and turned to face the crowd. "He's fine, it's just an elephant tranquilizer.. Probably the only thing that could make him crash that quick, they injected him with a lot though.. So I want to keep him here for now to make sure he'll wake up.." He said calmly.

Everyone seemed extremely relieved, simultaneously all shoulders slumped down, the tension removed from their muscles. Then, Masomi grew tense once again, and slammed his hand against the wall, causing the others to jump in surprise. Shinra turned to look back, seeing the livid eyes and clenched jaw. "This is bullshit!" He yelled,"We don't even know who this guy is, and they were somehow able to take down Shizuo-san! How are we supposed to stop them?! None of us have anything on them!"

"It was a lucky shot!" Erika declared,"If Shizu-kun had turned around quicker, than they would have been beaten to a pulp by now! None of us noticed he was there until it was too late!"

"But why did they just attack Shizuo?" Mikado suddenly questioned. When everyone turned towards him, the boy grew a slight blush on his face and looked down. "Um.. I mean, they've been really set on attacking at random, just huge crowds. Doesn't it seem a little strange that they just suddenly decided to go after one person in particular?" He continued. Everyone mulled over it, seeing the young man's point.

Shizuo suddenly jerked up, throwing his fist around a bit, growling angrily. Celty quickly dashed over and shook his shoulder, trying to make him realize where he was. _Well.. I guess not even a huge dose of an elephant_ _tranquilizer_ _can keep_ _Shizuo asleep for very long.._ Shinra thought with morbid amusement, the tension in the room was thick enough that he decided voicing his thoughts was not a smart idea.

Once they explained to Shizuo how he got there, he looked like he wanted to snap them all in half, mainly from frustration. It was obvious this was eating away at all of them, and Shinra didn't have the heart to hide it any longer. For the attacker to just target Shizuo confirmed what he thought might be the case.

"While we are all here.." He began, slowly twirling his scalpel in his hand,"I want to tell you guys something.. Because I think I might have a suspect.."

Celty whipped out her PA faster than the speed of sound, and pushed it in his face. **"How long have you 'might have had a suspect'?"** The text asked. Shinra felt a blush rise up on his cheeks, and said,"Not long my beloved Celty! Ever since after the first attack, I had suspected, but I didn't want to say anything until I had more proof. I'm pretty sure that, especially with what just happened, I might know who is causing all these attacks.."

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Then, he exhaled and opened them before speaking. "Izaya," He declared,"I think Izaya is the one behind all of this.."

For several moments, no one spoke. "That bastard didn't die?" Masomi hissed, eyes filling with malice again. Anri and Mikado both now had frowns on their faces as well.

"How long have you known he was alive?" Kadota questioned. Shinra shrugged sheepishly, his blush getting worse. "Well.. Sorta kinda the whole time.." He said, then saw the glares he was gaining. Quickly, he held up his hands. "I only saw him once in the hospital! I kinda yelled at him, and told him that me and Celty would no longer be associating with him anymore.. I don't know where he went after that.. I didn't go back.." He said quickly, slowing down and getting more solemn as he spoke.

Kadota still didn't seem convinced. "So you're telling me, after three years, he is just going to start causing trouble again? Why now?" He asked,"And how are you so sure it's him, just because you know he's alive?"

"I'm not saying it's him!" Shinra declared, feeling angry at being singled out. "But at the moment it's the only person I can think of, and I think it would be smarter to track him down and figure out if it is him or not, don't you think?"

Kadota sighed and nodded, pulling off his beanie and running his fingers through his brown hair. "Fine, fine, I'll help.." He said,"But if he isn't the one behind it you owe me"

"I can have some of my Dollars look for him," Mikado shyly suggested. Anri's eyes seemed to glow briefly red, before she said,"I will help in any way I can.."

Throughout everything, Shizuo hadn't said a word. He was still slightly confused from the incident earlier, but he got the general gist of what everyone was talking about. The first thing he felt was relief, relief that he didn't kill him. Despite the fact it was Izaya, he was still a human, and he thought for three whole years that he had killed him. Knowing he wasn't dead was like a weight lifted off his shoulder the next thing he felt was anger. Why did Shinra keep this from them?!

"And what would we do if he isn't the one who is the attacker? What do we do then?" Masomi asked, which made everyone turn and stare at him in surprise. "Hypothetically.." He added quickly. Shizuo forced himself to a standing. "Then we make the louse help us, he owes us that much," He declared firmly.

"Besides," Shizuo continued,"It's not like he has anything better to do"

The search was on.


	5. Chapter 5

_**My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who were attacked in Tokyo. I hope they will all be okay and those who died will rest in peace. Thank you all for continuing to read my story, I hope this update comes sooner than later, but school is starting next month, unfortunately, so I shall start being busy again.**_

 _ **This chapter will most likely be the one where they find Izaya, because I dunno if I can stall you guys any longer, you all seem very excited for them to meet again and you might get mad at me if I stall again. Plus I'm getting excited too! Let's do this shit!**_

– – – – –

The search was on, but results were null and void.

After a few weeks, Kadota began to wonder if Shinra was trolling them. There was absolutely nothing about Izaya anywhere. They'd searched up and down the best they could, he was nowhere. They'd even anonymously requested informant brokers online, none of them were Izaya. It was like he had dropped off the face of Japan. They didn't dare ask anyone else for help, because they knew if certain people figured out Izaya was alive, they wouldn't be the only ones chasing after him.

The attacks had suddenly stopped, and they hadn't happened since the attacker went after Shizuo. That was the only good thing about the situation they were currently in. Everyone was getting increasingly frustrated when they continued to have nothing to show for their desperate search. Shizuo most of all.

Over the three years since Izaya had vanished, Shizuo had been able to reign in his temper much better than usual. However, ever since they started this hunt, he had been progressively losing his temper more and more. He apparently barley gave people time to pay up before throwing them again, or breaking things. Kadota wondered if it was a good idea to find Izaya, because with how violent Shizuo was getting he was worried Shizuo might kill Izaya before they could ask him any questions.

All these issues they were having while trying to find Izaya made him wonder a few things. It made him wonder why it was so hard to find Izaya when asking for an informant broker. He was usually the first one to respond, especially if someone was asking for him. Yet, they had gotten nothing, nobody seemed to have been able to contact him in the past three years, not even his sisters.

For as long as he had known Izaya, he was always cut out to be an info broker, in fact that was what he wanted to do for a long time. If he wasn't an informant broker any more, than what was he doing? It made Kadota wonder something else, if Izaya really wasn't an informant broker anymore like he was guessing, then what was he doing? Where was he? Had he really given up the job he used to love so much? It made Kadota wonder..

Could someone like Izaya change?

– – – – –

Today was Yachi's last day of school before break, and Izaya knew he had a limited amount of time to get what he needed to get done. Today was July 20th, and Yachi's birthday was July 24th, the day she would be turning 7. He had until she got out of school to get the present she had wanted to badly. It was nothing too extravagant, like when she was turning six and wanted to get another dog. (He still hadn't talked her out of that, and was waiting for the day when she picked up another stray dog and brought it home)

What Yachi really wanted for her birthday was an easel and new art supplies. Izaya didn't mean to brag, but he was a pretty good artist, it mainly came from when he used to have to try and draw someone based off descriptions he got from clients. Usually it was because Shiki needed to track someone down, but he kept drawing, and usually made his own covers.

A few months before Yukine came into their lives, Yachi had come into his office while he was sketching, he was a little frustrated because he kept ending up with a drawing that looked too much like a certain blonde. The brown haired girl had grown incredibly interested in her father's drawings, and requested to learn. Izaya taught the six year old the best he could, and ever since then she had become particularly obsessed with drawing. Not that Izaya had an issue with it, he supported it greatly, feeling rather proud that they were both interested in the same things. He even made one of her drawings the cover of one of his books. Aikawa didn't stop squealing about it for weeks afterward.

It had been a bit of an issue when it came to leaving Yukine with Lisa. The woman hadn't had a problem with it, but Yukine was still extremely clingy to Izaya. The seven month old instantly went into a sobbing fit. Izaya felt terrible for leaving him like that, and decided he was going to buy Yukine something to make up for it. Something to do with music, because it was his most favorite thing beside his father and sister.

Finally, he reached his stop. He was on the outskirts of Tokyo. Aikawa had suggested a store to him that she knew many manga artists went to, including Ijuuin Kyo and Yoshikawa Chiharu. He knew Yachi would love knowing that, especially since The Kan was one of her favorite mangas..

He sighed, pulling on his blue t-shirt slightly and brushing off his black pants, before walking inside. He was going to buy some supplies for himself while he was here, because he knew Yachi wouldn't believe that he went all the way to Tokyo just to get Yukine a toy without taking them. She was very intuitive when she wanted to be, yet she somehow didn't realize that the cut up meat she sometimes ate was actually the shrimp she claimed to hate so much.

Walking inside, he went towards the paints, because he knew the easels would be in the same aisle. He saw two other people in the aisle and tilted his head. He recognized one of them, it was someone from the publishing company! "Kisa-kun?" He asked curiously, seeing the baby face editor turn to him in surprise. "Oh! Orihara-kun!" He said happily, smiling sleepily. He looked as tired as ever, wearing a wrinkled green hoody with gray pants, his black hair a disheveled mess.

"Uh oh, is it the end of the cycle?" He asked worriedly, seeing how beat down the other looked. Kisa released an exhausted chuckle and nodded in conformation. "Yeah," He groaned out.

"What are you doing all the way out here? Kinda far from your town isn't it?" The shorter male asked, tilting his head. "Ah, I'm here to get presents for my daughter," Izaya replied cheerfully. "She turns seven in a few days," He continued proudly.

Kisa smiled softly and then said,"Man, I don't think I could ever handle having kids, I mean Mino-san has his nephew and you have your two kids, yet both of you have pretty big jobs and still find a way to spend time with your kids, I couldn't handle it! How do you do it?"

Izaya chuckled softly and said,"The answer is simple, it's because we love them with all our heart" Kisa smiled a bit towards him, as a taller young man appeared, holding a bag of paints. He saw Izaya, and in an instant his soft eyes filled with jealously. "Kisa-san? Who is this?" He asked firmly.

Kisa instantly seemed to get very frustrated, and yelled,"Dammit Yukina! It's not like that!" Izaya raised his eyebrow, but then smiled and said,"Don't worry, I'm just one of the authors that publishes my books with his company" He bowed his head slightly. "My name is Orihara Izaya, pleasure to meet you," He finished, smiling again.

The younger man's eyes relaxed a little, he gained a gentle smile again, and replied,"Oh, I see, my name is Yukina Kou, the pleasure is all mine!"

– – – – –

Erika giggled excitedly from the back of the truck, jumping up and down with Walker, causing the man in between them to growl with anger. Erika was actually jumping so much that her black hat was flying off her head, only to land again and the launch back in the air with her continued jumping. Her eyes were lit up like stars, and Walker's hands were shaking with excitement.

Shizuo sat there, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, his piercing eyes were watching Erika's hat with annoyance. Kadota and Saburo's faces remained as impassive as ever, already used to Erika and Walker's shenanigans. He really wished he had squished on the motorcycle that was following behind him, but Shinra insisted on coming and that only he could ride with his beloved Celty.

"Ooh! I'm so excited! This is going to be the best thing ever!" Walker exclaimed, both of them letting out an ear shattering squeal at the same time. Shizuo growled, clenching his teeth and biting right through his cigarette.. Again. Looking down at the seat, he saw that was the seventeenth cigarette so far. He was starting to regret following them on this trip.

"Why the hell are we even going to an art store?" The blonde demanded in a frustrated tone. The fox eyed man smirked after reading it, and asked,"Why are we going to the art store, he asks! What a stupid question!" Erika and Walker held their hands over their mouths, giggling and looking at each other.

"The answer is quite simple!" Erika declared, holding up a hand,"Not only is there a very popular manga store near it, BUT, that art store is know to be visited by many famous authors!"

"Yoshikawa Chiharu!"

"Ijuuin Kyo!"

"Rumor has it that even Psyche goes there!"

"We are going to go in there, and we are going to see if we can see one of them in there!" Walker said firmly. Erika nodded, and then said,"Yes! And if not, then we will go to the manga store and buy the stuff we came here for anyways! And after that.."

They looked back at each other again, shaking like they were about to explode. Finally, they both threw their hands up at the same time, knocking the eighteenth cigarette out of Shizuo's mouth. "We'll go back in the store again!" The cheered loudly.

Shizuo growled loudly, crushing his cigarette box in his hand, trying not to break Kadota's car. "I don't understand, we're supposed to be looking for the flea, why are we driving all the way out here to some shitty art store?" He demanded.

Walker scoffed at him, raising his light eyebrows up at Shizuo. "Never pass up a good opportunity, Shizu-chan! Plus, you were the ones who offered to come just in case Iza-Iza showed up!" He said firmly.

"Besides!" Erika continued,"You didn't have to come with us if you didn't want to!" She started throwing her fists around in the air. "We don't need you guys anyways, we can take Iza-Iza any day!" She declared. Saburo and Kadota shared a look, before shaking their heads, knowing Erika couldn't beat Izaya in a fight, unless he was maimed in some way or handicapped.

"It's not like I really wanted to come.." Shizuo grumbled,"I just had a weird feeling about today.." He looked down at his hands, twisting the last cigarette between his fingers. He couldn't explain it, really. But, when he woke up, he felt different. He felt like something was going to happen, and no matter what, he just couldn't shake the feeling something was going to happen. So, when Erika and Walker declared they were leaving Ikebukuro to go to some stupid stores, he knew he had to go with them. It wasn't long before Celty and Shinra decided they were going too.

It was not like Shizuo had work, he was currently on paid leave, because Tom wanted him to go on vacation and reign in his temper before he ended up killing one of the clients that didn't pay up. Finally, the damn van came to a stop. Shizo quickly threw the door open, nearly yanking it off of it's hinges, and throwing himself out of the stuffy car. He took a few deep breaths, leaning against the back of the van.

They were about two shops down from the Art Store, in a place where parking was allowed. Kadota and Saburo had climbed out and were going to a vending machine nearby, getting some milk for themselves. Celty and Shinra trotted to where Shizuo was standing, both of them seeming to be in a much better mood than the blonde. A PA was suddenly in his face, and he read the message quickly.

" **Have fun? XP"**

Shizuo scoffed angrily, seeing the Dullahan's shoulders were shaking. "Fuck off.." He growled, still annoyed from the _entire_ ride in the van. Shinra gasped dramatically, pushing his hands in the air as if shielding himself.

"How dare you, Shizuo-kun! Insulting my beautiful fiance when she is merely trying to cheer you up!" He exclaimed,"How horrible you are! Why, if it was me in your position, I would have gathered her in my arms and told her how beautiful the joke was, beautiful just like her- ACK!"

Celty, to her credit, let him monologue more than he usually did before punching him in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain, wheezing for air. Shizuo smirked a little at the familiar display, feeling a little better after the annoying car ride.

Kadota had just finished his milk when the two Okatus galloped over, jumping up and down. "Can we go inside Dota-chin? Please Please Please?!" They begged at the same time, growing pouts and puppy dogs looks.

"Don't call me that, and go ahead" The beanie wearing man said, waving his hand dismissively. "Besides, you guys are in your twenties, you can do whatever you want," He continued. The two were already running towards the door, not caring about what he said.

Erika stopped Walker by grabbing his hand. "Okay, we need to be very quiet when we get in there, because if anyone finds out the real reason we are there, or the manga writers hear us, they will bet away from us, got it?" She whispered to him, eyes darting back and forth across the street.

Walker nodded and saluted her. "Roger," He said, as they tiptoed into the store, through the automatic doors. Erika tip toed inside the store, Walker following after her before both of them stood up straight, trying to act as casual as possible. The duo walked down one aisle, looking at the items around them quietly. So far, the only people in the store were three men in the other aisle, sharing small talk.

"Dammit Yukina! It's not like that!" A voice yelled in the aisle next to them. Erika gasped softly, turning to Walker. T _his is like a Shojo Manga where the girl walks in on the boy doing something and misinterprets it! But in real life!_ She grinned widely, walking over to the edge of the aisle, wanting to witness the fight.

As they creeped closer, they heard another voice speak. "Don't worry, I'm just one of the authors that publishes my books with his company. My name is Orihara Izaya, pleasure to meet you!"

Erika felt her vision swim for a moment, she had barley heard anything from that last sentence, except what she needed to hear. _Orihara Izaya._ Peeking over the aisle, she saw the figure who had spoken. He looked different from the man that she had remembered, but there was no mistaking those eyes. The blood crimson, and raven black hair. It was the exact man they had been looking for these past few weeks.

A silent gasp escaped her, as she turned to look at Walker. Despite his eyes being closed, she could see his panic as well. Backing into Walker, they both stumbled a bit, before looking each other in the face once more, then dashing out of the store.

Everyone was still where they were before, nothing seemed to have changed. Good, they might need the man power. Dota-chin was leaning against the door of their van, and he seemed to instantly notice their panic. "Guys, what is it?" He asked, piercing eyes very aware.

"Dota.." Erika panted, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "Dota-chin.. Izaya.. He's in there!" She exclaimed, watching everyone tense up.

Celty whipped out her PA, shoving it in the girl's face. **"Are you sure?!"** She demanded. Erika and Walker nodded quickly. "He was talking to someone, and he introduced himself to them! He said 'My name is Orihara Izaya'!"

Shinra's eyes widened, looking towards the door of the art store. "What should we do?" He asked,"Should we wait for him to come out and confront him?" He knew he had confronted Izaya three years ago, however that had taken all his courage in the first place to do that. He couldn't imagine doing it again, and waiting seemed like a better idea.

However, a certain blonde had a different idea. A loud growl escaping his throat, he broke the cigarette in his fingers. "Oh no," He snarled,"I'm done. We've been looking for him for fucking weeks, I'm not waiting anymore! I'm going to beat the shit out of him!"

The cigarette fell, and Shizuo stepped on it as he grabbed a nearby lamp post. In his anger, the lamp practically collapsed under his strong arms. Before anyone could stop him, Shizuo turned towards the art store.

In the same tone as he had many years before, the blonde yelled," _IIIIIZAAAAAYAAAAA!_ " The lamp post flew out of his hand, crashing straight through the glass and causing some of the front and side of the building to collapse. The cloud of debris blew out at them, blinding their view. Shizuo, however, continued moving. He wasn't going to let Izaya get away.

Inside the store, Izaya found his heart racing, beating faster than the speed of sound. Kisa and Yukina had fallen against the collapsed aisle, where Izaya pushed them over. Next to the black haired male was the lamp post, which nearly hit him.

Izaya felt his body shivering, the clouds of debris were clearing, and he knew only one person who had that much raw strength on them. He felt panic go through his whole body as the air cleared, and there he was. He looked exactly the same, and that made it even worse.

"Sh-Sh-Shizuo.." Izaya stuttered out, taking a few steps backwards. He felt pain flare up in his arms again, in the scar on his stomach. He was petrified, unable to move.

Shizuo froze for a moment at Izaya not using that accursed nickname. But, that didn't matter. "You fuckin' flea, you couldn't just stay away for long, could you? You had to start causing trouble again, didn't you?" He demanded,"You couldn't just leave us alone!"

 _Leave them alone? Causing trouble?_ Izaya thought, his tense shoulders lowering a bit, as he turned his head in confusion. "W-what?" He questioned, still shaking slightly.

Faster than he could register, Shizuo grabbed at the front of his shirt, and started shaking him violently. " _YOU BASTARD! DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW! WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?! DOES IT GIVE YOU SOME SICK FUCKING PLEASURE?!_ " He yelled.

Izaya struggled against him, his heart racing and crimson eyes wide behind their glasses. It was all too much. Though he had moved on from the fight, he was still traumatized by what happened. Seeing Shizuo so suddenly, and now practically being choked by him was too much. A whimper escaped his lips, and suddenly the world faded to black.

– – – – –

Shizuo stopped shaking the man in front of him when he went limp, head dropping against the blonde's chest. The two people behind him had panicked and run away together, so at least he didn't have to worry about them for now. He pulled Izaya away from him, his head falling back with the force. His eyes were closed behind those glasses. Honestly, why was he wearing them? Were they part of some disguise?! And did he honestly pass out?!

"Oi! Flea! Wake the fuck up!" He yelled, shaking the limp man again. Izaya didn't react. Growling, Shizuo walked out of the giant hole he had made. Everyone skidded to a stop as they saw him, as they were about to run into the store. Shizuo looked down at the unconscious face, then back up at everyone else, before simply letting go of the blue shirt.

Izaya crashed onto the ground, still not awakening despite the rough treatment. Erika let out a loud squeal of terror. "Whoa! Shizu-chan! What did you do to make him pass out?!" She exclaimed.

The blonde man shrugged, reaching up with his index and middle finger and pushing his glasses up. "I just grabbed him and yelled at him, shook him around a bit and he passed out, thought he was faking at first," Shizuo said calmly.

Shinra knelt down next to Izaya, saying,"Well, I guess that makes it a little easier for us if he's unconscious.." He carefully moved the black bangs from Izaya's face, using his trained fingers to pull the glasses off his face. Yep, that was Izaya. They had finally found him. He saw there was a plastic bag still held tightly in Izaya's arms. It was art supplies. Why would he be buying that stuff?

"So what do say we do now?" Shizuo asked, watching Shinra place the glasses back on the young man's face.

Shinra stood up, and said,"We take him back with us, what else? We can't get any questions out of him when he's unconscious, and waiting for him to wake up could end badly, let's take him to Ikebukuro with us, we can figure everything else out from there" Nobody seemed to argue his words. A few minutes later, the unconscious man was lying in the back of Kadota's van, Celty's shadows wrapped firmly around him, and they were on their way to Ikebukuro,

Hopefully, now, they'd get some answers.

– – – – –

Meanwhile, in Umizoinokage, Yachi was sitting outside, eating lunch with her best friend, Sosuke. Her favorite, Onigiri made by her father. When she bit into her meal, she was suddenly filled with a strange feeling. A sense of dread. A worried look filled her green eyes.

Sosuke, whom was sitting right next to her, his sandwich still hanging from his mouth, saw her worried look. "Oh? Chi-chan? What's the matter?" He asked around his food, brown eyes curious, yet filled with worry at the same time.

Yachi looked down at her lunchbox, then back up at the field surrounding their school. "I dunno.. I just got a weird feeling is all.." She said sadly. The weird feeling made her wonder what her dad was doing, and if he would be home when he was back. Yelling at Yeti to get off the dinner table before cheerfully hugging her.

"Oh.." Sosuke said, not sure how to respond to that. He ran a hand through his black hair, before turning to her and asking,"So, what is your dad getting you for your birthday? Do you know?"

Yachi giggled and shook her head. "Um.. No!" She told him,"My dad is unpredictable, and he's good at hiding things!" Sosuke laughed at her despair filled face. "Yeah, you're right! It's a lost cause!" He told her. Yachi giggled and nodded in agreement. Though they were smiling and laughing, that weird feeling wouldn't leave, and she didn't know what to make of it anymore.

– – – – –

At nearly the same time, little Yukine started to act fussy. Sitting in his playpen, he started to whimper, little tears sliding on down his soft cheeks. He threw down his bell, and started whimpering louder, blue eyes filled with fear.

Lisa and Koichi exchanged a worried look from where they sat nearby. Motioning to his pregnant wife, Koichi got up and picked up the baby. "What's wrong, little man?" He asked the child. Yukine sniffed again, whimpering and looking around the house.

"Dada!" Yukine cried out his first word, continuing to look around frantically. "Dada! Dada!" Koichi frowned and hugged the squirming child the best he could. "Don't worry, Yukine. Your dad is just buying your big sister some presents for her birthday, remember? He'll be back soon, and then you can tell him your new word, okay?" He told the baby enthusiastically, rocking him side to side to try and calm him.

Despite the calming rocking, Yukine still whimpered slightly, blue eyes looking toward the front door. "Dada.." He whispered. The word made Lisa and Koichi exchange a worried glace. They were both wonder the same thing. _Shouldn't Izaya have been back by now..?_


	6. Author's Note: Mandatory Evacutation

Dear faithful readers.

I have this next chapter nearly done

I probably would have been able to finish it by tomorrow too

HOWEVER

We are currently in the process of an evacuation

There is a fire raging all over town, and it is over 7000 acres with 0% containment

School just got canceled and evacuations are in order

So we're leaving now too, we just got the order to go

My only family nearby has been evacuated too

Plainly putting it, we have nowhere to go

I don't know if where we'll end up has wifi or not, or if we'll even have power

Right now the evacuation point is a gym at a far away school

So I won't be able to finish right now, my safety is more important than this story

As I cannot write if I am dead

I know you guys will probably not care, but I thought you deserved to know

The whole sky is orange, and there are stores closing down due to smoke

Look it up if you don't believe me: Blue Cut Fire

Thank you for continuing to support my story, I'll be sure to continue writing as soon as I get the chance

Now I gotta go pack ;-;

Thank you guys for understanding


	7. Chapter 6

_**So, about the fire. As I am writing this, the fire is finally contained. 82,000 people had been evacuated, and it had burnt over 65,000 acres. No fatalities, everyone is still safe. Unfortunately some historical monuments got burnt down. I'm safe though, and back at home. My house is completely filled with ash.**_

 _ **In other news, my life is falling apart. My parents just dropped the bomb on us that they are splitting up. My mom has already rented out another house and moved into it, and me and my younger siblings are going to be bounced around from one house to the next. So yeah, let's just say that's not the best thing to hear after having been evacuated for a while. I'm trying my best to handle it, and writing usually cheers me up, so we'll see how this goes, won't we?**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

– – – – –

Though consciousness returned very slowly for Izaya, he instantly knew that he wasn't at his home. His home felt happy, warm, and filled with the giggles of his two children. This place was filled with tension, and the air felt stiff. Izaya blinked, his eyes getting used to the light around him. Once his vision cleared, he looked around the best he could with his aching neck. Why was his neck aching again?

The memories suddenly came back to him. He was trying to buy a gift for Yachi, and was suddenly attacked by a very familiar face. _Shizuo.._ He thought, looking down at what was keeping him from moving. He recognized it as well. It was Celty's shadows. He looked around the room quickly, looking for anything he could use to escape.

 _I don't understand.._ He thought fearfully. _Why did they come after me? It made no sense._ He knew for a fact that he hadn't done anything wrong, he hadn't touched anything regarding Ikebukuro in three years. Suddenly, panic started to fill him again. _Was it a coincidence they found me?_ He thought. _Or do they know where I_ _live_ _?! How long have I been out? Yachi and Yukine, they must be worried sick, I have to get back to them!_

He renewed his struggles, despite knowing it was futile. Nothing could get out of Celty's shadows, or at least not that he had seen. But he needed to get home, he didn't care what they wanted him for, he had more important things to do.

The sound of the Shoji sliding open made him jerk his head towards it. Standing in the doorway were many people he recognized. Dota-chin and his gang, Mikado, Anri, Kida, and Celty too. There were also the two people he had been hoping never to meet with again. Shizuo and..

"Shinra.." Izaya finally spoke, voice empty of any sadistic glee or malice it would have had before. Looking at the other man, he continued,"I thought you were no longer going to associate with me" Celty tilted her helmet slightly, turning to stare at Shinra.

Panic seemed to fill Shinra's eyes, as he quickly replied,"Things change, Izaya. I wouldn't associate with you if I didn't have to, but there have been issues in Ikebukuro, and we believe we know who is responsible-" It seemed not everyone could remain as calm as Shinra though.

"Why are you bothering us again?!" Masomi snapped, stepping in the room and getting in Izaya's face. "Haven't we endured enough from you?!" Quickly, Izaya pulled his head back as to not slam foreheads with him. He could see Masomi looked stressed, and his roots could be seen in their natural hair color.

Confusion filling his crimson eyes, Izaya tilted his head once more. "What are you talking about?" He asked. It was the same thing that Shizuo yelled at him before he fainted, but it didn't make any sense. What were they claiming he had done?

"Don't fuck with us flea!" Shizuo growled, glaring at him from behind those glasses. Izaya tensed up slightly, quickly looking down and away from his fear. "Nobody else would be able to get away with this as good as you could!"

Izaya kept looking down, and felt slightly guilty. Yeah, he guessed he deserved the suspicion. When he was still a bad person, he usually was the person that was behind everything bad happening. The fact they found him a culprit for.. Whatever they were talking about.. Was something he could understand. It wasn't like he ever came back and showed them that he had changed.

However, just because he understood didn't mean he wasn't allowed to get mad. "I still don't understand what _this_ is.." He said, allowing some frustration to escape his tone. "And all of you yelling at me for something I have no knowledge about isn't going to get any of us anywhere.."

He was surprising himself with the fact he was managing to keep himself as calm as he was, especially with Shizuo leaning against the doorway. Sure, he was glaring down at his own lap, but that was besides the point.

Now everyone else, they were feeling slightly desperate. Izaya was their only hopeful clue in the whole situation, and he seemed to not know anything about the situation. Their last hope was that he was lying.

Celty whipped out her PA and shoved it in Izaya's face. **"Tell us the truth"** It read. Guessing what the PA said, Mikado quickly added,"Orihara-kun, the sooner you tell us the truth, the sooner we can figure this whole mess out, stop lying to us"

Izaya was starting to get pissed off. "I'm telling the truth!" He snapped, kicking one leg in the air out of frustration. His outburst seemed to quiet a few people, Dota-chin didn't seem as angry as the others, and he looked rather apprehensive about the whole thing, and Celty seemed to have backed off a bit.

However, one knucklehead was still having trouble. "Stop lying! Whenever something happens in this damn city, you're always behind it! Why the fuck did you do this again?!" Shizuo yelled, having bitten through his cigarette and clutching to the wall.

"I didn't do anything!" Izaya yelled back, growing frustrated. "I haven't done anything in three years! I left you all alone! I didn't cause any trouble, and then the instant something happens you all organize a giant man hunt to come get me!"

Izaya shivered a bit at seeing Shizuo's angry gaze, it brought back bad memories. He hated this, he hated being here. He wanted to go back home. Looking down, he continued speaking. "Look, I know I probably don't deserve the benefit of the doubt, after everything I did, but I swear on my life that I have nothing to do with this.. Whatever it is," He said firmly, eyes filled with determination.

He was staring straight at Shinra as he said this, not breaking eye contact. Shinra was the only one who knew that he was alive after his fight with Shizuo, so it was pretty obvious who told them.

Shinra could tell what Izaya was thinking too, his crimson eyes glaring straight into the underground doctor's soul. He knew Shinra told everyone, and he obviously wasn't happy about it. He was showing more emotion than Shinra had ever seen him show, even if it was anger.

Luckily he was saved, when Celty walked towards the exit, and motioned her head, wanting everyone to follow her. They quickly slid the door shut again, and moved farther in the room. Once they were all together, Celty quickly typed on her PA, and showed it to everyone.

" **I think he's telling the truth"**

Shizuo frowned at the statement, obviously not agreeing. Shinra also seemed to frown as well, but he also stayed quiet. Kyohei, however, slumped with relief. "I agree with Celty, I don't think he's lying," Kadota said. Walker and Erika nodded their heads in agreement.

"Y-yeah.. Izaya always used to completely agree or he would show that he was behind it.." Mikado said softly,"He's never denied he wasn't behind something.. Maybe we should give him a chance?"

 _That louse doesn't deserve a second chance!_ Shizuo wanted to growl, but didn't say anything. He knew that would just start more trouble, and make everyone more stressed than they already were. "Fine, we'll give him a chance.. But anything fishy and I won't hesitate to beat him into the fuckin' ground," Shizuo growled. Shinra also crossed his arms, nodding firmly. He still didn't want Celty near him, but they were outvoted.

 _Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap_

 **"I'll go get him, you all stay here"**

Shinra wanted to stop her, he opened his mouth to say something, but she was already dashing back to the room. He groaned and slumped his shoulders, staring at the floor. He really didn't know if Izaya was telling the truth or not. He just wanted to get rid of this mysterious attacker. If they could manage to put Shizuo down, even temporarily, he was scared that they might know something about his Celty.

– – – – –

Celty quickly took the opportunity to be alone with Izaya when she had the chance. She could tell something was different about him, call it a Dullahan's intuition. Walking inside, she shut the door behind her. Then, with a wave of her hand, the bindings were off of the raven haired man.

Izaya looked down at himself in surprise, before bringing his arms to his chest and beginning to stretch the soreness from them. "Thank you.." He replied.

Celty merely stared at him. Feeling uncomfortable, Izaya rubbed at his arms and said,"Listen.. Um.. Celty" The woman tilted her head, as to indicate she was listening. He kept his eyes down, but continued,"I'm.. I'm sorry about what I did before. I was a horrible person to all of you, but especially you. I know I don't deserve forgiveness, but you at least deserve my apology.."

Celty wasn't sure what to say. Izaya seemed to different, and the apology just made the whole thing seem so surreal. Quickly, she pulled her PA out and typed something down. Showing it to Izaya, she asked, **"What changed?"**

Then, Izaya smiled. But it wasn't one of the evil smirks he would give her, or those sadistic smirks that would slide up his face as he plotted something. It was a real and genuine smile. "The answer is easy," Izaya told her,"I found a light in my life"

That furthered her belief that Izaya had truly changed. There was so much evidence. The open emotion in his eyes, the genuine smiles. Why was Shinra having such a hard time seeing this? Wasn't he the one who used to claim that Izaya had some good in him?

She led Izaya outside, to where the others were waiting. Izaya was trying to remain as calm as he could, he had his hands in his pockets, his left hand clutching desperately to his phone, while he stared at the ground.

Shizuo stared at Izaya as he walked in. If it had been anyone else, he would have yelled at their stupidity. Why would they untie the flea?! He could have so many tricks up his sleeve, he was probably lying about everything. Though, he had to admit, he did look different. The glasses actually complimented him very well, though one had to wonder why he was wearing them. Maybe they had some strange spy gear that could read a person's weaknesses and kill them.

He also looked fuller, not as skinny as he used to be. But in a good way, like a slightly muscular way. He didn't look as sickly anymore. Shizuo didn't know why he had a ponytail.. he thought that was for girls.. He also saw weird looking pink marks up and down his arms, on his fingers and knuckles too. It kind of looked like.. Scars? Where did those come from? Realizing he was getting off topic, he shook his head quickly, shaking him from his thoughts and keeping an eye on the flea. If he did anything, Shizuo would be ready to pin him to the ground and stop him from doing anything.

Izaya didn't do any of the things that Shizuo expected him to do. Instead releasing a snide comment, teasing them, or laughing about their situation, Izaya merely crossed his arms, tilted his head, and raised an eyebrow. He didn't say anything, he merely waited to see what explanation they had for kidnapping him, and then releasing him not even an hour later. It kind of reminded Shizuo _way_ too much of a mother who was waiting for their kids to fess up.

He wasn't sure how to react, because in all the years he had known Izaya, he had never seen Izaya show any true emotions. He would only smirk or laugh sadistically. Now, he was showing his frustration. He also looked ready to punch them all in the face, not that Shizuo would give him the chance, but that was what he looked like. "Well?" Izaya asked, still sounding like a mother. "Can I have an explanation?"

"I don't think we should give you one until you give us one," The blonde kid, Shizuo forgot his name, grumbled from the couch. He was avoiding Izaya's eyes, staring at the armrest and not daring to look up.

Izaya exhaled from his mouth, sending his bangs into the air for a moment before they settled down again. "I don't think I will give you one, because if I told you guys the truth, you wouldn't believe me," He said simply, tilting his head. "The sooner you all tell me what the hell is going on, the sooner we can go our separate ways"

"Separate ways?" Mikado questioned. Izaya wanted to scream, they all seemed to confused that he was not starting anything. Dear God, he was not in the mood, he was going to dumb it down and be as quick as possible.

He crossed his arms again, and explained,"I meant it, I haven't done anything, I don't even live in the Kanto Region anymore"

"Then why were you in an art store, in Tokyo?" Shinra demanded suspiciously. It seemed he was looking for anything to pin on the 27 year old.

Deciding to be sassy, Izaya placed his hands on his hips again, turning to the underground doctor. "Oh jeez, Shinra, I dunno. Maybe buying some fucking art supplies," He snapped, rolling his eyes behind his lenses.

Celty seemed to be annoyed, or sense the growing tension in the air, as Shizuo's cigarette had broken and he looked prepared to destroy all their furniture. She quickly shoved the PA in Shinra's face before he could even retort. **"Just get on with it,"** She ordered.

Shinra calmed himself a bit, and then nodded at Celty. Finally, he began the story, while paying close attention to Izaya's facial features. "Well, there's an attacker.. In Ikebukuro. They appeared about a month or two ago, and randomly appear, and stab people, it doesn't matter who. I heard there was members of Yellow Scarves and Blue Squares that were hit at the same time, so it doesn't seem like they were targeting anybody in particular. We thought it was a one time thing.."

"But it wasn't" Erika whispered in a dramatic, narrator's tone.

"No. They kept attacking, we don't know who it is. But I think they know we are all trying to figure out who they are. Because.. They attacked Shizuo," Shinra said,"Knocked him out with a tranquilizer, it only lasted a little while. After they singled Shizuo out, we were thinking.. Hoping that you were the one behind it, because if you weren't behind it, then we have nothing"

Izaya listened diligently, and then sighed a bit, before shaking his head. This person obviously was very cocky to go and attack the Strongest Man in Ikeukuro. He only knew one thing. "It's not me," He told them all. The only people who seemed to be suspicious, or not believe him at all, was Shinra, Shizuo, and Anri. Well, maybe not her as much, as she was just seeming uncertain.

"And why should we believe you?" Shizuo demanded, suddenly moving forward and getting in Izaya's face, causing the shorter man to stumble a few steps back, shuddering slightly.

Izaya quickly snapped,"You looked for me right? And that means you were looking for an informant broker, right? I am one hundred percent sure that you didn't find anything about me. That's because I am not an informant broker anymore, I quit that job three years ago. If you don't believe me, then I don't know what to say, other than to let me go, since you won't trust me. If you did trust me, or believe me, even if it was just a little bit, I would offer you help, though I might be rusty. But, I do have a life, and if we're just going to go in circles, then I'm going to go home"

 **"I believe you,"** Celty's PA read, as it was suddenly shoved in his face. **"Even if the others don't, Izaya, I'll give you another chance"** She saw him smile, the genuine emotions he had when he mentioned the light in his life, and honestly, she was curious, what could melt such a cold and ruthless person and change him almost completely? A husband or wife? True friends? She honestly wanted to know.

"I believe you too!" Erika yelled,"It's like Nagato from Naruto! He was a bad guy, but then in the end he got a second chance from Naruto-kun and he turned out to be a good guy! Plus, we kinda really sorta need your help!" She gave a sheepish grin, while Walker nodded enthusiastically.

Kadota and Saburo merely nodded. Kadota was also curious, he wondered how someone like Izaya could change. But he seemed sincere, he hadn't seen even an ounce of the old Izaya. Plus, it had been three years, surely a second chance was in order?

Masomi didn't know what to do, the ex informant seemed so sincere, but that's what he thought when he first met Izaya, when he was still an idiot. Even if he didn't believe it, they needed his help. Anri felt a little fearful, but once again, he seemed so genuine. Mikado seemed to be okay with giving him a second chance, so she would trust his judgment, as he was usually right with his assumptions.

The only seemed to have a huge problem was, of course, Shizuo and Shinra. Both of them were frowning suspiciously, glaring at the raven, as if waiting for him to laugh and say they were all stupid for believing his little speech. And, with every second Izaya stood by his deceleration, they both seemed to be getting angrier.

Celty released a sigh of annoyance. _Men.._ She thought, before walking forward and smacking both Shizuo and Shinra on the back of their heads. Shizuo grunted and turned to face her, while Shinra clutched to the back of his head dramatically, releasing a whine. "Celty my love! I am only trying to think of your protection!" He claimed, turning to face her with teary eyes.

 **"Shut up"** Celty declared hastily, before pulling it back and continuing to write a message. **"Izaya is offering to help us catch a murderer, and right now we have nothing else to go on, he's our only hope. And the longer it takes us to catch this guy, the more danger I'll be in. If they could take down Shizuo without even punching him, what do you think will happen if they find out, or already know about me?"**

Shinra slumped his shoulders, and Shizuo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, as if he wasn't sure what to say. They knew she was right, but neither of them wanted to give Izaya a chance after what he did to them. "Fine.." Shinra pouted, before scooting closer to Clety and leaning against her, trying to calm her anger with his affection, because that _'_ _always_ _'_ worked.

Nobody knew what to say after that, and for a few moments it was very awkward, what do you say after that? Luckily, Izaya had a way to break the silence. His phone suddenly ringing. He jumped slightly, not expecting the noise. Who would call him at this moment? The only people who had his number and could call him was Aikawa and.. Oh shit.

"Could I just take this very quick?" He asked awkwardly, as all the attention in the room had been quickly placed on him the second that noise escaped his phone. He knew exactly who it was, and he wanted to answer it as soon as possible.

"Sure," Shinra said nonchalantly, before adding,"As long as it's on speaker" Izaya wanted to cringe, but he knew he had to answer it, he was sure he had worried them enough. He pressed the speaker button, simultaneously answering the phone call. However, once it was on speaker, and he held it up. No one said anything on the other side of the phone.

He frowned a little, before pressing the volume button, and then leaning forward slightly. "Hello..?" He asked awkwardly. That's when everything blew up.

" _ORIHARA IZAYA!_ " Lisa's angry voice yelled over the phone, causing Izaya to jump in surprise, he probably would have dropped his phone if he wasn't holding it tightly. Everyone else in the room jumped back slightly as well. But Lisa couldn't see, and she probably didn't care.

"Where the hell are you?! I've been calling you for hours! No answer! We were so worried something happened to you! Everybody is worried sick! _WHERE ARE YOU?!_ " She yelled. Izaya shuddered slightly, knowing he was in for it when he got home.

"Lisa-"

"You said you would be a few hours! And all your calls were going straight to voicemail! What was I supposed to think?!" The pregnant woman yelled.

"Lisa-" Izaya tried again.

" _WHAT?!_ " Lisa yelled back, and Izaya could swear the phone vibrate in his hand, probably shaking in terror from Lisa's angry wrath. Izaya sighed a bit before saying,"I'm heading back right now, okay? I'll explain everything when I get back"

For a moment, everything was silent, before Lisa swiftly said,"Fine, we'll finish this when you get back" Then, the dial tone played. _I am so dead.._ Izaya realized in horror. Lisa was going to kill him, he was dead meat.

He almost forgot about the little reunion he had just had, but he turned around to see a frustrated looking Shinra. "What do you mean 'Heading back now?' I thought we had a deal! You expect us to let you leave?!" He snapped. He seemed to still be livid, it brought pain to Izaya. He had always hoped that if he met with Shinra again, he could prove he changed. But with Shinra acting like this, he didn't want the man anywhere near his family.

He thought quick, and said,"I intended to keep my word Shinra. But I have to go home, I have a job to maintain after all. Plus, me being here isn't a good idea" Kadota's seemed to be the only one who caught onto what he was trying to say.

"Oh.. Because someone might recognize you.." He said simply. Izaya nodded calmly, and continued,"If someone recognizes me, rumors will spread like wildfire, and then whoever this attacker is will find out I'm here. He might get suspicious and attack more often.."

Izaya raised his pointer finger, pushing up his glasses, as he said,"Plus, that way if anything too dangerous happens here, you all have somewhere to hide out"

"Pfft.. It's nothing we can't handle.." Shizuo growled, trying to find some reason to give themselves some credit. He seemed to be forgetting that he was beaten easily as well.

"I still think some of us should go with you, just to make sure you don't run away.. I don't trust you," Shinra said, narrowing his eyes. Izaya hid the hurt in his crimson eyes, and instead merely shoved his hands into his jean pockets and replied,"Okay, pick some people"

He wasn't going to argue with them, that would get them nowhere. He turned and looked toward the wall. The 'adults' (And Shizuo) went to discuss it themselves, while the toddlers went after him. He was lost in thought, and didn't notice until it was too late.

 _I have to figure out a way to keep them away from Yachi and Yukine, there's no reason for them to meet them, especially with how hostile they are all acting.. Maybe I'll take them to the hotel I stayed at before moving into my house and then-_ Suddenly, Erika was behind him, slipping the hair tie from his hair, making his silky black hair fall down and slightly past his shoulders, curling a little at the end.

"Ahh! Erika you were right! He totally looks like Kuchiki Byakuya with his hair down! All he needs is the costume and bam!" Walker exclaimed as Izaya turned to face them in utter confusion. Erika let out a loud, excited squeal, causing the others to jump as well.

"Ooh! Izaya you should totally cosplay with us once this is all over! You'd look awesome! We already have the costume! Nobody had hair long enough though!" Erika said excitedly,"And we've had that costume for years! We've been trying to find someone to cosplay as him so we can reenact when him and Gin talked! Walker cosplays as Gin all the time! I cosplay as Harribel!"

Despite his job as an author, he wasn't that well rounded with manga that didn't interest him. Aikawa had him read a few when the publishing company wanted some fantasy and action books published, and thought he could come up with something good. That didn't mean he wanted to cosplay as anybody, especially with the two anime crazies.

"You look like a girl with hair like that," Masomi insulted from the couch. Izaya grew a playful smirk, and then said,"Oh~! I would hope so! Then my idol, Celine Dion, would be so proud of me! I could finally get into the beauty pageants as well!"

Anri brought her hand to her mouth, hiding a giggle behind it. It was strange to see the man who had caused her so much trouble and pain suddenly smiling and cracking jokes like a normal person. His smirk didn't even look as malicious as before, more playful than anything. She didn't know if she could trust him yet, but she was glad that there was no violence involved anymore.

"Ooh! That would work! You could pull it off! I mean, you don't have boobies, but I bet I could fix that!" Erika said excitedly, placing her hands on his chest. "Oh?" She said curiously at the definition she felt. "OH! IZA-IZA! You have a six pack! You've been working out!" She suddenly yelled, yanking his shirt up to reveal exactly what she had just described.

"Erika! Stop it!" Izaya snapped in embarrassment, going back into his parent voice, before karate chopping at her hand. "Ow!" Erika exclaimed, letting go before jumping back and getting into the crane position. "Karate Kid!" She yelled loudly, watching as Izaya merely stared at her. Then, he leaned forward and pushed her forehead slightly, causing the girl to yell in terror and fall backwards, still in the crane position.

Now even Mikado and Masomi were cracking up, not sure how to react to their once worst enemy getting into a childish karate battle. Walker was watching with curiosity, and smirking as he normally did. "Hm.. I thought that move always worked.. It does in the movies.." He said idly. Meanwhile Erika continue laying on the floor, occasionally making groaning noises.

Of course, that was the time when the door was opened, to reveal Shizuo, Shinra, Celty, and Kadota. They all froze, staring at the scene in front of them. "What the fuck happened?" Shizuo asked in confusion.

"Karate Kid," Saburo answered simply. Erika then shot up and pointed at Izaya. "He's just mad that I showed his six pack!" She declared.

"Six pack? That skinny son of a fuck doesn't have a six pack," Shizuo growled. Erika giggled loudly, and then said,"Yes he does!" She turned and grabbed Izaya by his waist, pulling at his shirt again. "No!" Izaya yelled back, grabbing her hat from her head, and then turning around the best he could without falling over. He then chucked the hat as far away as he could.

Erika seemed to have as much of an attention span as Yeti, because she soon yelling in horror and running after he hat, forgetting about everything else but getting her hat back.

"Um.. Okay.." Shinra said awkwardly, in his mind he wondered what he would have to do to get a body like that, he wanted to see Celty's reaction if he secretly worked out and got muscles, and then ripped off his shirt with only his pecs. Oh she would be so impressed-

Celty broke his daydreams by elbowing him in his sides, and making him groan in slight pain. "Okay okay! Well, me, Celty, and Shizuo are going to come with you. Kadota and the kids will stay here and update us. Plus, everyone knows Kadota and the others, so them suddenly leaving would probably be noticed, but they will come if anything happens.. On either side of the equation," Shinra declared firmly.

Izaya nodded slowly, deciding that this was the quickest way he was going to get home to his kids. He had a plan to make sure that they didn't find out about Yachi and Yukine. They were his main priority, he had to keep them safe. These sudden intrusions to his peaceful life wouldn't be easy to get rid of. His only hope was that after he helped catch this crook, they would leave him alone for good. He had no wish to reconnect with any of them still. He just wanted his family.

Luckily, it wasn't that hard for them to pack, since Tom had brought Shizuo some stuff over after he decided to stay at Shinra's for his own safety. They had said their goodbyes, and given the instructions on keeping in touch. Everything was prepared. Izaya could only hope that his plan would work out the way he hoped it would. With luck, Shizuo and the others would never find out about his family.

Staring at his three companions, he nodded. "Alright then.." Izaya began calmly,"Let's go and get working on this manhunt"

Just as they turned the corner and headed down to the train station, a shadowed figure looked around the corner, staring up at the large apartment building. They had just missed seeing the small group leave, but that wasn't what they were after.. At the moment. Looking down at the numbers written on a paper they held, they looked back up at the building before turning and walking back into the darkness.

" _Soon.._ " They whispered into the empty alleyway," _Very soon_ "

Then, they vanished into the shadows..


	8. Chapter 7

**Special thank you to GateBreaker for her beautiful fanart of Yachi and Yukine once more! Check her out on Deviantart, HakumeHikari!**

The ride back to his home had to be the most awkward thing Izaya had ever been involved in. He was in an enclosed space with a man who wanted him dead (or had wanted), his old friend who now hated his guts, and a headless woman with seemingly no opinion on the issue. They were also his kidnappers, that was probably something he should have added. Yet, he was helping them solve an issue that wasn't even really his problem. The _one_ time he had nothing to do with a bad situation is the time they decide to hunt him down.

He really didn't have to help them, especially after what they did. But he felt guilty, he had done so much to them, that he kinda owed it to them to help them, right? Still, if they had approached him in a less... Murderous manner, maybe he wouldn't have been as frustrated.

The train ride was only getting worse with the fact that Shizuo and Shinra were eying him like a piece of prey, waiting for him to do something so they could claim he never changed and was trying to kill them from the beginning. It wasn't like Izaya was trying to provoke them, either, he was looking down at his hands, and occasionally out the window. He felt his hands shaking, just being close to Shizuo was causing his body to shake uncontrollably.

He would look at Shizuo though his bangs, hands wringing together uncomfortably. He saw the pink marks on his arms. The scars left from their final fight. His arms had been so horribly broken that extensive surgery had been required to fix it, leaving him with many scars up and down his arms. He had one where Varona had stabbed him to.

Looking up slightly, he saw Shizuo was still staring at him. This caused Izaya to flinch, his heart racing in his chest with fear. Shizuo, since he had been staring at Izaya quite closely, noticed his shaking. He didn't understand it, he didn't act this way around the others.. Why was he being so weird?

Celty had been staring down at her phone for most of the ride, but seemed to sense the tension in the room, as she looked up and examined the situation in front of her. She felt kind of bad for Izaya, he must feel so cornered. She needed something to break the fiery gazes. Slowly, she thought up a conversation starter on her PA. Then, she held it out to the cornered Izaya. **[Do you really have a six pack?]** She asked.

Izaya's crimson eyes read over the question, and he blushed, hands moving to his shirt. "It's barely even there! I can't get one anyways, that's just not how my body was built. She felt a flat stomach and assumed!" He exclaimed, before looking away again. Celty felt her shoulders shake in laughter, before she typed something else.

 **[But you still kinda have one, right? Does that mean you've been working out? Who are you trying to impress? ;-)]** She playfully teased, watching him read it and the blush once again. He puffed his cheeks out and said,"I'm not talking to you anymore"

Celty laughed again. She was actually enjoying the fact that they met with Izaya again. He really had changed, she had never seen him show any emotion other than sadism, and evil glee. To see him getting flustered was hilarious.

She decided to steer the conversation in a different way, and quickly asked, **[What is your town like?]**

Izaya then smiled at her again, the same smile he gave her yesterday. "Oh, it's on the coast, on the other side of some mountains, nice and secluded, very peaceful" He explained.

The smile on Izaya's face confused Shizuo. It wasn't his normal smirk, the ones he would always give Shizuo before they went on their usual chase. It was a real, genuine smile. Shizuo didn't understand. He didn't want to believe that Izaya had moved on when he himself still couldn't, it just wasn't fair!

Shinra felt a slight stab of jealousy, seeing Izaya getting along with his fiance so well. Despite seeing all the evidence, he was still scared. Mainly for Celty. Even if Izaya had nothing to do with the attacks, his Celty was still in danger, nothing could change that, until they caught this bastard.

The rest of the train ride was in silence. It was hours before they finally got off the train. Izaya felt like he was taking his first breath again after he walked out, especially with how stuffy and tense the compartment had been.

While the three looked around the small station, Izaya came up with a plan. He couldn't let them know about his children, he didn't trust them. Not that he had before the whole damn situation started, but that was besides the point. With a slightly frustrated sigh, he quickly thought of a plan. He knew if he could get them to stay at a hotel, and then go talk to them there instead of his house, that would probably work. When they ask him why he isn't staying with them he could probably make up some bullshit about safety reasons, and the possibility that the attacker might be looking for them if he notices them missing.

Yes. That would work, he decided, and then looked back briefly at his companions, before turning and walking out of the station

Of course, Izaya's plans never seem to work these days.

Standing outside, and obviously waiting for him, was Yachi, Yukine, and Lisa with her own family. "Daddy!" Yachi yells happily, jumping up and down and waving her hands. Her brown hair bounced up and down with her excited movements.

 _Fuck.._ Izaya swears internally. However, he didn't turn to look back at the three behind him, he didn't care. After the incident with Shizuo, when he had no idea what was going on, he had thought that Shizuo was going to kill him, seeing his family again made him feel so much relief.

Instantly, his face brightened. "Chi-chan!" He called back, using his daughter's favorite nickname. Yachi giggled excitedly, and then ran over to him. Izaya caught her as she jumped at him, twirling them around before holding her close. The little girl squealed in excitement, and then wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. Izaya then placed a kiss on her forehead, and buried his nose in her cinnamon scented hair.

The three people behind him seemed to have frozen up. Celty had placed her hands on the front of her helmet, as if covering her mouth while she was gasping. Shinra looked extremely pale and like he was about to faint. "W-w-what?" He whispered. Shizuo's jaw had dropped, his cigarette falling onto the sidewalk. He looked like a piece of paper, like he could fall over at he slightest touch, brown eyes wide behind his blue glasses

"Daddy! I missed you! You should have been here!" Yachi said, squirming out of his hug and giving him an angry glare. However, it just made her look more adorable. "You said you would be back by the time I got home from school!" She told him.

Izaya chuckled awkwardly and replied,"I know, I'm sorry.." His eyes momentarily went towards the three frozen people behind him. "I got caught up with something, but I'm back now~!" Izaya sang the last part, spinning around again and making the girl squeal. Celty's shoulders shook at the sight, as she giggled at what she was seeing. Out of all the reasons for Izaya to quit being an informant broker, she never expected it to be something like this.

"Oh! Oh! Daddy! You missed it!" Yachi suddenly exclaimed,"Yukine spoke! He said his first word today!" Izaya's smile widened even more, if that was possible, Celty couldn't really tell.

Izaya placed down the girl, who took his hand and brought him over to the woman. The blonde haired baby in her arms began to excitedly wave his hands and giggle at the sight of Izaya. The raven quickly picked up the baby.

He was so gentle with the child, and his eyes were filled with an emotion that Shizuo never had seen in his eyes before. Love, and pure happiness.

His brain felt like it was going into overdrive.

He didn't understand.. Could someone like Izaya truly love something?

Izaya couldn't love. He was a manipulator, he manipulated people, he had manipulated children before. He was insane, he couldn't understand the concept of love. So why did wittnessing this scene fill Shizuo's heart with a warm fuzzy feeling?

No, this had to be a trick-

"Did you now, little man?" Izaya fondly questioned the infant, now holding him against his chest. The child's blue eyes were lit up with excitement, giggling loudly and showing off his three teeth. "Can you tell me exactly what you said?" The raven haired man teasingly asked, poking the child's little nose, who giggled again before reaching up at his father again with his little hands.

"Dada!" The baby exclaimed happily. Izaya's heart skipped a beat, not expecting that to be Yukine's first words, but then his chest swelled with pride, as he kissed the baby's soft head gently, and proudly declared,"Yukine! You first word! You're getting so big!" The little child released a happy giggle again, he could not get enough of his father's happy words and attention.

The scene in front of him was just too much for the judgmental views of Izaya that Shizuo harbored, surely something like this was not possible, impossible. Shizuo didn't believe this, Izaya couldn't love, he couldn't care for people. It was just impossible! He released the breath he had been holding, which came out in the form of a growl.

This seemed to snap the raven out of his trace, as he quickly brought the baby protectively to his chest, and stood in front of the little girl. The green eyed girl clutched around Izaya's waist, and stared at Shizuo behind her cover. "Daddy," Yachi whispered,"Who is that?"

Izaya looked at the three awkwardly. He had almost forgotten about them, but now he had to figure something out, and fast. Shizuo looked like he was about to snap, and the young man did now want his children to see him get hurt or get hurt if Shizuo lost it. "Um.." Izaya began,"These are my old.. Acquaintances.." It wasn't like he could call any of them his friends, so he might as well go with the next best thing.

"They were the reason I didn't make it home," Izaya explained, his eyes narrowing at the three. Yachi released a soft 'Oh' of understanding, while Yukine stared at the three with his clear blue eyes. The 6 month old whimpered suddenly, and then turned and shoved his face into Izaya's shoulder. "Dada.." He said shakily. Izaya placed his hand on the baby's back in response, rubbing a comforting cirlce to try and calm the child down.

Shizuo then decided to add his angered opinion into the already tense situation. "I should have known you would try a trick like this," He snarled,"Trying to trick us into believing you're a good person?! This is just like what you did with that purple haired kid!" The strongman took a threatening step forward.

In response, Izaya and Yachi took several back, which only angered Shizuo further. Izaya's hands started to shake again. "N-no it's not!" Izaya hissed,"I don't want to hurt people anymore! I haven't in a long time!"

"Bullshit!" Shizuo yelled, causing the children and parents to gasp. "That's all you ever do! Hurt people!" Izaya wanted to deny the statement, but it happened to be the truth.. Three years ago. "Why should we believe anything you say!" He snapped,"You probably kidnapped those kids!"

Izaya felt rage and paternal instincts mix together, as he yelled,"You're a walking contradiction!" Shizuo blanked slightly at the big word. "You yell at me and be suspicious of me, claiming I've never changed! Then you ask for my help, but not before attempting to impale me with a light post! You think that will make me want to trust and help you! I'm being more courteous than I should!"

Yukine had started to whimper again, his little hands clutching to Izaya's hoodie. Yachi, meanwhile, had a frown on her cute little face. This man had yelled at her dad, and apparently tried to hurt him, if her dad was telling the truth. Which he always did of course. Plus, her baby brother was now upset. Yachi wasn't about to stand by and let this happen.

Running from behind her father, she ran over and kicked at Shizuo's leg. Shizuo barley felt it, but turned to look down at the little girl again. She pointed at him and angrily said,"Don't be mean to my daddy! If you hurt my daddy's feelings then I'll.. I'll kick you again!"

Celty felt her shoulders shake as a giggle escaped her. She knew the situation was a serious one, but she finally saw what had changed Izaya. It was the little girl, and the baby boy. Izaya had an aura surrounding him that oozed in an overprotective, mama bear way. She believed Izaya, she could see the change that nobody else seemed to see. But maybe that was just because of who she was as a person, always waiting to give people a second chance, whether they deserved it or not.

She was glad she waited for Izaya

Shizuo, meanwhile, was conflicted. The second he realized the small girl had kicked him, his rage diminished. He couldn't hurt kids, no matter whom they belonged to. Though he was still a little enraged that the small girl was defending Izaya, he slowly looked away from her and the flea. He made a grunting noise, but refused to apologize.

Yachi glared at him again, before running back to her father and hugging his leg. Shinra seemed to sense that the tension wasn't going to vanish, so he awkwardly said,"Um.. Shouldn't we get started with everything?"

Izaya turned at stare at Shinra with steely eyes, before nodding and turning around. Lisa, Sosuke, and Koichi were standing there with confused looks. "Thanks for watching the kids for me, sorry for the trouble I caused," Izaya said simply, bowing slightly. His serious tone, and the look in his eyes, made Lisa realize now wasn't the best time for an explanation.

"It was no problem, Izaya, they're never any trouble," Lisa said kindly,"We'll see you later!" She quickly took her family away from the situation. She knew Izaya would be sure to explain everything to her later, so she only worried about what might occur after she left.

Yachi, too young to understand the situation, turned to look up at her father. "Daddy, I was scared when you didn't come home," She stated,"So you have to make me feel better and make hotpot tonight" Izaya rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair gently, feeling her oblivious words help him relax, even if it was only a little.

"Okay, okay," Izaya said,"If it'll make you feel better" Yachi gave a happy giggle, grabbing his arm, then she stopped, and turned to look at the three behind them. "Are they coming with us?" She questioned. Izaya turned to look back at them, his eyes narrowing again. No, he really didn't want them to come. He wanted to have some peace in his life still.. But, he knew that it would be easier in the long run, and simpler for his kids, if he didn't go to some hotel every day. He could leave them with Lisa, but he felt like he already imposed himself on them too much.

Quickly looking away, he frowned and said,"Yeah I guess" Taking this as acceptance, the three followed him at different paces. Celty was the closest, and Shizuo right behind her. Shinra seemed to still be rather confused, and continuously stopping and staring ahead with a pale face, before realizing that they were getting away from him and running to catch up.

Celty felt like she was the only one who realized the truth in Izaya's words. His smile was genuine, and he was talking very kindly to the child. Of course, every time the child looked away from Izaya, he would turn his suspicious gaze back to them. Celty could see the overprotective gaze in his eyes.

They followed him to a beautiful looking house, and Izaya suddenly said,"Yachi, why don't you go put your things away and then I'll let you choose what to put in the hotpot?" The girl, whom Celty guessed had the name Yachi, twirled around and ran into the house, calling,"Okay!"

The second she was in the house, Izaya turned back to them. "Listen, and listen well," He began, his voice dangerously low,"I don't care what you think, and don't think for a second I trust any of you. I'm only helping you to make up for what I did in the past. But that doesn't give you free rein. If you touch either of my children without my permission, if you tell them anything they don't need to hear, if you hurt them in any way, shape, or form, I _will_ kill you"

His face was serious, a frown gracing his feminine lips, and crimson eyes filled with promise. Shinra found himself starting to realize that maybe Izaya wasn't lying, maybe the man actually did change. Shinra wondered if he should have even judged, since he hadn't even gone to see who used to be his best friend in the past 3 years. Yes, he supposed he would believe Izaya for now, after all his threats actually made Shinra feel fear. He didn't completely trust him still, but he could try.

Shizuo still seemed to not know what to do, and just remained silent and stared at the young man instead of trying anything. Izaya's threat seemed real, but the flea always like to trick adults and children alike, so he didn't want to believe him just yet. He still needed more time to understand. He was so used to seeing the flea as one way, he didn't know if the flea could truly be something else.

All three of them nodded when they realized that Izaya's dangerous gaze wasn't going to remove itself from them until they agreed or disagreed (But none of them dared to do that). Then, Izaya turned and walked into the house. They quickly followed after him and found.. A rather normal house. None of the spy gear and technical weapons they expected to see. There was many child's toys on the ground, and baby supplies on a counter. The only computer in the house seemed to be a black laptop. No crazy setup like he used to have.

There was a sudden, loud crash from somewhere outside, which made Izaya jump slightly. "Ugh..." He groaned,"That stupid- I'll be right back! Don't touch anything" He walked to the sliding door, opening it and walking out. Then, he walked around the house. Everything suddenly went silent.

They waited a few moments before beginning to look closer at the house that Izaya currently resided in. It was smaller than the penthouse he used to live in, but it gave off a more homey feeling than the apartment in Shinjuku. Celty moved her head around, wondering what else they could see without touching anything. She could see a coat rack near the genkan where they had left their shoes, with Izaya's old jacket on it, and a few other adult ones on the higher pegs. On the smaller pegs, there was a bunch of adorable child sized jackets as well.

On one of the couches and on the coffee table was a bunch of papers and folders, which were right next to the laptop. Looking around more, she saw some frames on the wall. Tapping Shinra's shoulder, she pointed at the frames and they moved closer, Shizuo right behind them.

They were several pictures on the wall, all of them were a different side of the Izaya they knew. The first photo was a picture of Izaya, with shorter hair, and holding a younger Yachi in his arms, his jacket on her head. Behind them was the house they were currently inside of. The caption on the bottom of the frame said _'First day in the new home!'_

The second photo was a picture of the baby, whom they still hadn't found out the name of, asleep on Izaya's chest. Izaya himself was asleep as well, laying on the couch with an arm wrapped on the baby's back. Izaya's glasses were askew, and a smile on his sleeping face. The baby's fingers clutched to the raven's shirt, his little face content. _'Yukine's first day home'_ The caption read.

The third photo was of the small family. Izaya was sitting in the water, dipping the little baby in only a little, whom had cute duck floaties on his arms. He was staring at Izaya with adoration. Nearby, Yachi was sitting in the water behind Izaya, her arms around his neck. Her mouth was wide with a smile, and she wore a cute blue swimsuit with a cat floatie. On the other side of Izaya was a large great dane, whom was soaked to the bone, and tilting his head curiously. _'Day at the beach!'_ The caption declared.

The last photo was the image of a picnic. Izaya was there, wearing a red yukata, a dango stick in his mouth. He was grinning around the sweet and holding a peace sign up to the camera. Next to him, Yachi sat with an onigiri in her hand, giving a thumbs up with the other, and wearing a beautiful yellow kimono with purple flowers. Yukine was in Izaya's lap, his blonde hair longer, and a toothless smile directed at the camera, his hands hugging a panda plushie. Also sitting on the blanket was the family they had seen earlier, whom were just as dressed up as Izaya. Underneath this photo, it read _'Summer_ _F_ _estival!'_

All of these photos, and in every single one, Izaya's face looked genuine, he looked happy. More happy than any of them had ever seen. The children did not seem scared, or angry. They looked just as, if not more, happy than Izaya. They looked like.. A family. Shizuo could even feel his heart fill with warmth, a small smile growing on his face.

The silence was suddenly broken by the little girl, whom galloped down the stairs with speed only a child could be capable of. She was now wearing a green tank top with blue outlines on the end, and a blue cat outline in the middle, and some brown shorts. She skidded to a stop and then stared at the three curiously. These were people from her daddy's past, which she only knew about from his stories. Speaking of those stories.. She did recognize them..

"Hey!" She exclaimed,"I know you!" The three tensed slightly, until she pointed to Celty, and continued,"You're the headless rider! Daddy told me all about you! He said you are the bestest helper he had, and that you are very strong!"

Slightly surprised, Celty pulled her PA out, and showed the child a simple note. **[Your father told you stories about us?]** She questioned.

"Uh huh!" Yachi declared,"Daddy tells me stories all the time. He said he used to be a mean mean person, but then he met me, and I helped him learn how to be nice, and give him a second chance!"

Shizuo blinked in surprise, and wondered if Izaya was really feeding the girl information or if he really truly did mean what he said. "W-what did he say about me?" He asked, bracing himself for the worst.

"Oh?" Yachi asked,"Well, daddy told me about you. You're a strongman, and you used to fight a lot. Daddy told me that he used to call you a monster, but you were really the most human person he knew. He said he wished he could make it up to you, but he didn't think he deserved your forgiveness, I think he's wrong, but he wouldn't listen"

Shizuo barley had time to register his shock at this statement, Izaya had come back inside, quickly shutting the door and turning to Yachi. "Yeti isn't allowed inside," He told the little girl. "What did he do this time?" The child asked, her big green eyes staring up at her father.

"He managed to get outside and got in the mud from the rain yesterday, until we have time to give him a bath, he's not allowed inside," He explained. Yachi giggled and nodded, saying,"Okay daddy"

He smiled at her, and then asked,"Well? Are you going to get the ingredients you want for hotpot? Or maybe you want me to just make it by myself?"

"NO!" The child suddenly exclaimed, and dashed into the kitchen as fast as she could, and opening the pantry.

Smiling kindly, Izaya turned back to the others and stared at them for a second, a strange emotion in his eyes. "Ah.. Follow me, I'll feed you just this once," He said, and walked into the kitchen. Once they were in there, they saw Yachi stacking some meat and veggies on the counter, and giggling excitedly.

Turning to look at the three, she proudly said,"My daddy makes the best hotpot!" Izaya rolled his eyes before ruffling her hair, and placing Yukine in the high chair.

Shinra slowly took a seat and asked,"Can we work on the situation now?" Izaya frowned slightly at him, Shinra's words and the three's presence once again breaking the peace in his mind. He picked up some pureed food from the fridge, and dropped the jar on the counter roughly. "Fine, but keep this conversation child friendly," He declared, eyes going to where Yachi sat with her homework papers on her chair, a few telephone books stacked under her so she can reach the counter.

"Of course," Shizuo said simply, trying to be more civil. He wanted to believe what the little girl said, so he decided to try and be civil with Izaya, and see if they could truly get along. He and Celty sat down as well.

Izaya poured the pureed food into a small bowl, and then got a child's plastic spoon. "Okay, tell me more about the attacks themselves," He said, turning to Yukine. "Say aaaah~" He said, opening his mouth wider than needed.

However, it worked, as Yukine giggled and then went,"Aaaaa!" Izaya fed the baby, smiling proudly at him. Yukine smiled back, but his food began to slip from his mouth. Izaya scooped it up with the spoon. "No, Yuki, om nom nom," He said, making exaggerated chewing motions with his mouth. Yukine giggled again and copied his dad, chewing the food and swallowing. Realizing he succeeded, Yukine squealed happily and clapped his little hands.

Izaya smiled, before turning to see why they hadn't started talking, and saw they looked very pale and awkward. Oh, yeah, he kept forgetting that they weren't used to seeing him like this. However, Izaya couldn't care much, as he loved his kids too much to pretend to be someone he wasn't anymore, he didn't care if it would comfort his three old acquaintances.

"U-um.. Well.. The attacks.. They started about four months ago.. And about two months ago we thought it would be you, because they attacked Shizuo and managed to take him down.." Shinra explained,"There were over 30 attacks in the two months, but they slowed down after they attacked Shizuo"

Izaya had started cutting up meat and veggies for the hotpot. "Can you list where the attacks happened?" He asked, growing a hunch.

Shizuo tilted his head and asked,"Why should that matter? The police said they were random attacks, why would it be important?"

Izaya suddenly rolled his eyes, dumping the beef stock, meat, and veggies and making the simmering pot, and then quickly beginning to feed the fussy Yukine. "No wonder you need my help," He explained, quickly switching over and grabbing the paper Yachi had finished and checking it over. Celty wanted to laugh, as Izaya looked just like a multi-tasking mom.

"You honestly think that someone who has managed to hide their face and evade police officers, and gangs alike for nearly half a year, and managed to attack the infamous 'Monster of Ikebukuro'" - Izaya actually brought up his hands and made air quotes when he said that, making Shizuo feel a little better - "And take him out in one hit is just attacking at random?"

Izaya started pulling out plates and placing them around, watching them for a moment, seeing the understanding on their face. "I must admit, they remind me of my past self. I may have acted childish but I always had a plan behind me, didn't matter how unaware or random I seemed," He then declared,"These people have a plan, and if they attacked Shizuo personally, they might be after someone he knows"

Placing veggie and meat down on the different plates, Izaya continued,"I think that where they are attacking gives us a clue, and I need to know every single place they attacked, to see if my hunch is correct"

They looked at him like he was crazy, and Izaya sent them a glare. "Listen, you said your only clue was me, but I didn't do it, so now all you have is my hunch," He declared,"But don't worry, I know what to do"

Yachi giggled and looked up at Izaya. "Of course you do daddy! You always do!" She said fondly. "Right you are, sweetie!" He said happily,"And so we're going to need to start this right now!"

Turning to Celty, he asked,"Can I borrow your phone?" Celty didn't give it a second thought as she tossed it to him, watching him dial with one hand as he fed Yukine with the other.

After a few moments of silence, there was a voice on the other end. "Hello?" He asked, and there was silence on the other end. "Yes, I'm still alive," Izaya continued.

The voice on the other end spoke again, and Izaya smiles. "Listen, I can explain everything later. You are the only person I trust to call"

" _What do you need?"_

"Well.." Izaya begins,"It's kind of hard to explain over an unsecured line.." Pulling out his own phone, Izaya began to type on it quickly, before asking one final question.

"How soon do you think you can get to Umizoinogake?"


	9. Chapter 9

_**GASP! Another update?! I know, dear readers, I am simply amazing. You guys should be happy I procrastinated, because my computer restarted and updated in the hours when it WASN'T supposed to, and a whole bunch of documents got deleted, I lost a bunch of stories and came back to blank documents.**_

 _ **I was so fucking pissed. LUCKILY, this story isn't one of them. But, stories such as Unseeing Slayer, Dreams of an Absolution, Kintsugi, and Revival of the Betrayed were deleted. So, those stories will be up as soon as I can rewrite what was lost and finish them. They will merely be up later than I had hoped it would be. Hope you understand!**_

 _ **Anyways, Enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **(And don't get mad at me ;-;)**_

– – – – –

Kadota felt thankful that everyone had got there safe. They hadn't heard anything for quite a while, and Kadota felt a little worried until he remembered that if Izaya truly was trying to live his life and get away from everything in Ikebukuro, he probably would have gone as far as he possibly could. He was relieved to get a text from Celty, who told him everyone was safe.

 **[We all made it safe and sound, Izaya has a hunch and called someone to help us out]** She told him. **[They'll be here in a few days]**

Kadota was glad Izaya at least had a hunch. It wasn't much, but they really didn't have anything else to go on. **[Who is this person?]** He questioned suspiciously. **[Don't know yet, I'd rather not pry. I'm trying to stay on his good side]** Celty told him.

 **[So you really believe he's changed?]** Kadota asked, curious about the wording she used. He got a reply so fast it kind of scared him.

 **[Of course I do!]**

 **[I believe in him 100%!]**

 **[He gave me all the reason too!]**

Kadota blinked in surprise, not expecting her to get so defensive all of a sudden. **[Okay, Okay, I do too]** He backtracked, wanting her to realize that he was on her side with this. Unlike Shinra and Shizuo. He understood their suspicion, but seriously, enough was enough. The fact Shizuo felt so guilty about possibly killing Izaya, yet when the ex-informant was revealed to be alive and was willing to be nice with them and work with them despite them practically kidnapping him, he jumped on Izaya with the same hostility as before.

 **[He really is different, Kadota, I'm serious]** Celty replied **[I can see it in his eyes, all his emotions. His smiles are so genuine, he looks so relaxed. His house isn't filled with any creepy stuff like it used to have, he only has a laptop and a computer in his office. He even let Shinra read his internet history to calm him down, there was nothing bad in it either]**

For a few moments, there was no reply, but then Celty continued. **[And he's so.. Nice to us. Even though we're invading his personal life, he isn't angry. And he isn't messing with Shizuo either. He really seems sorry for being a bad person. I trust him]**

Kadota couldn't help but smile. He knew there was some good in Izaya somewhere, and now it was visible for all to see. He was kinda glad that they found Izaya. Having the bad image of Izaya when he was now a changed man. It wasn't the real Izaya anymore. Seeing Izaya smiling genuinely was a beautiful sight he never thought he'd see. Izaya's smiles before looked evil on his grim face, but when Izaya smile while messing around with Erika, he seemed to exude warmth and happiness, and the smile on his face made him look surprisingly adorable.

He saw something flash across his vision, with the loud sound of thunder following. Yes, the rain seemed to now be letting up. They all decided to stay inside till the matter of the attacker was resolved, plus the rain was pretty heavy. That made him wonder..

 **[So what's it like where he lives?]** Kadota sent back out of simple curiosity. He wondered if Izaya lived in a city still, though he had a sinking feeling it was probably a no. He was prideful of his correct guess a moment later when Celty texted back.

Happily, she replied, **[It's beautiful! Its filled with trees and it's right on the coast, Izaya and his kids live in a house with such a beautiful view, even though it's raining pretty hard it's still very beautiful!]** Kadota nodded. It was storm season in Japan, so he wasn't surprised that it was raining that far awa- _Wait a second.._

 **[What do you mean by kids?]**

No reply for a minute….

 **[Izaya.. He.. Um.. He has kids now]**

Kadota wasn't sure what to say

 **[Are you kidding me?]**

No reply

 **[You're serious?]**

For a moment he was really shocked, and then confused. She replied so fast, surely it couldn't be a joke? Her non-existent reply only furthered his confusion, until, she sent him a reply.. In video form. He looked around for a moment, seeing his gang were sitting and playing Uno, while Kida and his friends were talking calmly while eating a late dinner.

He reached into his pocket and put them into his phone, watching the video and finding his eyes widening slightly in surprise. "Huh.." He said aloud.

"What is it Dota-chin?" Erika asked curiously, everyone turning to see what Kadota had been surprised by, especially since this was the first time Kadota had said anything in the past few hours.

Kadota leaned forward and slid his phone across the coffee table, and motioned towards it. Erika made a curious noise before she picked it up, everyone crowding around behind her as she pressed play.

In the video, there was Izaya and a little girl with a cat beanie on her head, brown hair sticking out, and gorgeous green eyes, both sitting on the ground criss-crossed. In between them was a baby with blonde hair and cute blue eyes. He was looking back and forth between them curiously, dressed in an adorable blue and green pattered dinosaur footsie, complete with a tail and everything.

"Come on baby bro!," The little girl begged hopefully,"Say Yachi! Yah-chee" She was making exaggerated mouth movements as she spoke. The baby giggled and clapped his hands, baby teeth showing as he smiled.

The baby then leaned over and plopped against Izaya's leg, calling out,"Dada!" Izaya chuckled and said,"Hey Yukine~"

"No, Yukine!" The little girl said, helping her brother sit up again and then turning him to face her. "Yaa-chee, Yaa-chee," She repeated.

"Aaa Eeee," The baby babbled, staring up at his sister in awe, he made the mouth noises and then turned to look around the room. As soon as he caught sight of Izaya again, he released a loud cheer and flopped against Izaya's leg again, grabbing Izaya's red sweater. "Dada!" He exclaimed again. Yachi pouted sadly and looked down at her feet.

With concern in his red eyes, Izaya gently wrapped and arm around her and said,"Honey, don't give up, sometimes it just takes time. He's only 6 months old after all!" The little girl nodded sadly, not seeming convinced.

Izaya then leaned down and picked up the little baby, placing the baby boy on his knee. "Yukine," He said, gaining the boy's attention instantly. "Can you say.. Yaa-chee?" He turned and pointed to Yachi, and said,"Yaa-chee"

Yukine gurgled for a few moments before reaching his hands out and saying,"Yacheee!" Yachi gasped and then jumped up excitedly.

"He did it! He did it!" She exclaimed happily,"Daddy he did it! He did it! I knew he could! You helped him do it!"

At all the positive attention, Yukine giggled again and held his hands up, yelling,"Yachi!" Yachi giggled again, and then knelt down and hugged the baby. "I love you Yukine!"

Then she turned and wrapped her arms around Izaya's neck. "I love you daddy!" She said happily. Izaya smiled and wrapped an arm around her, his other arm holding the baby. "I love you too sweetheart!" He said proudly, and the video came to an end.

"Whoa.." Masomi says after a moment,"I'm not sure what to say.." Mikado, meanwhile, smiled smugly and turned to look at Masomi with his arms crossed. "See Kida-kun?" He boasted,"Anyone can change, even people like Orihara-kun"

"B-but..," Erika stuttered out,"If he had kids with a lady.. Then he might be married.. _WHICH MEANS HE CAN'T LOVE SHIZU-CHAN!_ "

"They're probably adopted," Saburo guessed,"The girl, at least, she's too old for Izaya to have had when he left.." Everyone else agreed and Erika calmed down a little bit.

"Aww.." Anri said, seeing the happiness from the children and Izaya,"I kinda want to meet them.."

Mikado smiled and moved to hold her hand. "Maybe we will get to one day, but I don't think we we'll be going anywhere anytime soon," He said. Right after he spoke, there was a flash of lightning, and the lights all turned off at the same time.

"Huh? The power went out?" Erika asked curiously, pulling out her phone and using the flashlight tool. She looked around the apartment and said,"I wonder what happened.. Was it because of the storm?"

Anri frowned a bit, she had a bit of a suspicion that wasn't it. Something felt wrong. Her eyes started to glow a dim red color as she looked around the room, following Erika's flashlight. The others continued to discuss and ask if they should go down to the basement and check the power and see if it went out for everyone else too. She could hear some muttering from the hallway so she guessed that was the case.

Just as Erika's flashlight passed Celty and Shinra's room, Anri noticed something. Something moving out of the room, but Erika moved too fast for her to see it. Anri looked back, and saw that everyone was still together, so who was that?

"Guys-" She tried to say, but as soon as she said tried to continue speaking, gunshots began to fly towards them, zooming at them from random directions.

Kadota yelled,"GET DOWN!" He then threw himself behind the couch as everyone panicked, quickly running for cover. The younger three followed his movement, Mikado screeching in terror as a bullet grazed the size of his cheek. They fell on top of each other painfully, while Saburo and Erika ducked behind the kitchen island. Walker heard a noise just by his head, throwing himself to the floor as a bullet went straight through the glass window.. Right where he had been standing. Despite all the crazy things he had done before, Walker felt himself freeze in terror.

"WALKER!" Erika yelled, running out and grabbing his arm, yanking him into the hiding spot hard. But, she was still standing. Another gunshot rang out, along with a scream. Erika fell hard. "Ahh! I-it hurts!" She cried out, blood spurting from the wound.

Walker gasped in horror. "Erika!" He cried out. He knelt down, turning her over as the gunshots stopped. There was a hole in her chest, right across from her heart. He felt everything freeze up.

"Fools," A echoing, distorted voice said. The culprit must be using a voice changer. "It has been so long and you still do not understand what we are after," He said,"Listen to our demands, and you shall worry about nothing else, you will no longer be hurt"

Suddenly, Walker opened his eyes.

He turned, grabbing the shattered bowl that had fallen off the counter. "FUCK YOU!" He yelled, throwing the bowl at the direction of the voice. He heard the voice come to a satisfying stop with a distorted yelp. Gunshots flew again as Walker ducked. But now he had given the others courage.

Kadota turned and grabbed a fallen knife block, taking out the knifes and throwing one to distract them. Then, he threw the block at the gunshot filled window, shattering it easily. "Jump!" He yelled to Saburo. "Get the van!"

Saburo quickly slid across the ground, jumping out the window and onto the lower balcony. "Go after him!" The distorted voice snapped, and several footsteps left. "Well, Kyohei Kadota, it's just you guys and me now.." He said.

"I don't believe you," Kadota hissed. He watched as Walker started to slide across the island on the ground, then leaning against the counter. Kadota was worried, Walker was reckless when he was angry, but hopefully he had a plan. Kadota decided to just keep this.. Bastard talking.

He heard a chuckle of amusement from the distorted voice. "Oh, but you should. If you believe and listen, you will all live, we just require you to lead us in the correct direction of.. Our demands" He said, while Walker opened a cupboard. Ever since things started becoming more dangerous, Shinra told them he kept some weapons in the house, so he could defend himself. It seemed a little unorthodox since the attacks were random, but now he was thanking whatever deity was listening that Shinra was always over prepared.

"And what is it this.. _something_ you want?" Kadota demanded, confused thoroughly. He couldn't think of anything that he could give someone like this person, a monster willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted, anything that would quench such a desire.

There was that damn chuckle again. "Not something, Kadota-kun," He whispered," _Someone.._ "

 _What?_

Walker didn't let the confusing statement continue, as he quickly got up, not caring about himself, as he yelled,"ROT IN HELL YOU ASSHOLE!" He threw a flash bang at the two men still in the room, it took merely a few seconds for the room to explode in white, the loud noise causing a slight ringing in their ears.

Masomi suddenly got up, and looked like he was about to run after the culprit, who seemed to have taken off once they realized that their plan had not gone the way that they had hoped. Kadota quickly threw his hand out, and grabbed the young man's wrist. "Don't!" He hissed,"Erika needs medical help!"

Walker quickly ran back to the girl, whom was barley conscious at this point. "Erika! You need to stay awake!" He begged. The girl turned her delirious dark eyes to her blonde friend.

"Walker-kun.. You were so brave and cooool~" She told him, reaching a bloody hand out to stroke his cheek. "Just like Yuzuru Otonashi.." She whispered, eyes drooping as she began to pass out, Walker shook her and tried to keep her awake.

"Kadota!" Walker cried, tears running down his cheeks. "What do we do?! They're after us.. If we don't help her.. She's gonna-" He chocked on his own tears. Kadota knew he must be very terrified if he was calling his real name.

He stood up, grabbing some bandages Shinra left behind for them and quickly wrapping the wound tight. "We'll just have to go to where everyone else is as fast as we can. As long as we can keep her awake, I think we can make it," Kadota ordered, his voice threatening to quiver with the fear he was managing to hide.. Barely.

The others nodded fearfully, listening to Kadota's word like it was the gospel. They quickly ran down to find Saburo scraped a bit, but alive. Apparently the man after him stopped chasing him after the flashbang went off. They loaded the half-delirious and mumbling Erika into the van, Walker holding her like she was a delicate piece of China.

Anri, Mikado, and Masomi got in the trunk as Kadota began to drive most likely faster than the speed limit. Celty had told him the address just in case anything happened, and it looked like they were smart to prepare. He adjusted the review mirror and saw Erika was looking even more delirious, while Walker was still crying. The stark white bandages on her body didn't match her clothing style, and it scared him.

They tried going to the hospitals outside of Ikebukuro, but there were suspicious cars outside each of the ones they tried to stop at. They were being run out of town. Kadota looked at the road ahead, then back at the review mirror. Now that they were out of Ikebukuro city limits, the cars had stopped following them. Pressing his foot harder on the gas pedal, he drove even faster. He needed to get there, he needed to get there.

He didn't know how much time they had left..

– – – – –

Shizuo watched curiously as Izaya sat on the couch, he was brushing out Yachi's hair calmly, his phone leaning against his shoulder, which was lifted to meet with his ear. Yukine was in his playpen nearby, babbling in his little baby language. Shinra and Celty were in the kitchen, eating by themselves. So Shizuo was kinda stuck with Izaya.

"Aikawa-san, I don't think it's safe for you to drive out here tonight," Izaya said calmly, taking the little girl's hair and wrapping it up into a bun, clipping it with a cute butterfly hairpin. "Aikawa, my manuscript is finished, I promise. Once the power comes back I'll fax it to you," He was saying calmly. Shizuo stared for a moment, before feeling a nudge against his leg. Turning his head, he saw Yeti. The dog had been brought inside after he had ran into the glass door in excitement. Yeti cocked his head at Shizuo and then wagged his tail as the blonde patted his head, before turning back to Izaya.

He was surprised to learn that Izaya was a writer. Izaya still hadn't shown them his books, but Shizuo didn't mind much. Things were still awkward between them. "Well, if you think the printers are going to chew you out tell them to call me, and I'll remind them of the fact that we've been warned to stay indoors and the power went out," Izaya said simply. It was kind of amusing to listen to him arguing to the lady that was apparently his editor.

"Aikawa! We can barley see outside, I think it would be pretty dangerous for you to drive down here! Please stay up there! I know you don't want to deal with Usami-san but I'd rather you be annoyed by him then get in a car crash," He said simply, while Yachi climbed onto the couch, sitting behind Izaya and using her little fingers to put his hair in a loose ponytail.

"I promise, I will get it in by the end of the week, when it is due," Izaya said,"Okay? Okay. Bye" He hung up and groaned in annoyance. Yachi tapped her dad's shoulder and pointed to the hairpins. Izaya pointed at one that had a ladybug at the end, and the little girl put it in his hair.

Shizuo pet the dog again and then awkwardly said,"What was that about..?" Izaya sighed and ran a hand through his bangs, his hand going to pet the old cat next to him.

"My editor is worried about the fact my first manga is supposed to come out in a magazine next week and that I haven't faxed my manuscript in yet, but I haven't been home in a while," He sent a pointed look at Shizuo, "And they're expecting my manga to be in it, so I have a lot of expectations right now.."

Yachi quickly raised her hand, standing on top of the couch while the sleeve of her Chappy pajamas slid down. "I came up with the idea!" She exclaimed,"It's about a mean prince who kills a baby dragon and takes it's chest gem, and gives it to the princess he loves, and then the baby dragon's mom curses the princess into a dragon, but the evil prince thinks she killed the princess and he's chasing her, and she's gotta find a way to change back!" She exclaimed, as Izaya smiled and nodded at her.

They were so sweet together, Izaya had an adorable family, Shizuo had to admit. "Ah.." He said calmly,"Wait, first manga? What did you write before?"

Yukine suddenly started to whimper, and reached his hands towards Izaya. "Dada! Dada!" He sobbed. Izaya jerked up faster than Celty when an alien documentary came on. He quickly went to the playpen and picked up the baby, rocking him. "Aww.. Shh.. It's okay Yuki," He whispered, the grew a confused look. "I don't understand, Yukine usually loves the rain.."

Celty had walked in at the noise, a flustered looking Shinra behind her. "Did you do anything to freak him out?" Shinra asked Shizuo. Surprisingly, Izaya jumped to his defense.

"No, we were actually having a civil conversation, and then Yuki started crying," Izaya said worriedly, and seemed like he was going to continue talking when there was a light outside, a moving light. All conversations froze, and turned towards the sliding glass door.

There was suddenly a frantic knock on the front door, loud and fast. Noise returned very suddenly as Yukine sobbed, Yeti barked loudly, and Yachi ducked behind her father. Celty bravely crept forward, and opened the door. With a loud crash, Kadota fell onto the genkan. "Shinra!" Kadota snapped, his beanie off his head and brown hair soaked with water. "Erika! She's hurt! Bad!"

Quickly, Shinra looked at Izaya for permission. Izaya's red eyes were cautious, but he nodded. He then took Yachi's hand and said,"Come on, time to go get ready for bed" For once, Yachi didn't complain, instead staring at the new stranger. Once the small family was upstairs, Shinra and Shizuo ran into the rain to help.

Shockingly, behind the three soaked teens came in Saburo and Walker, carrying an unconscious and pale Erika, whom had bandages over her chest. She did not look well.

Once again, it was a good thing Shinra over prepared, as he brought most of his medical stuff to help in case something happened. Everyone came inside, moved the couches, and lied Erika on a table Celty formed with her shadows. Shizuo noticed Walker's eyes were still open wide, and rimmed red. He had been crying.. Shizuo suddenly felt guilt stab in his heart. "What happened?" Shinra asked,"Erika got shot.. What happened?"

Kadota walked them through the whole story while Izaya came downstairs. He was carrying towels, which he dropped on everyone's heads for them. Masomi and Anri looked a little surprised, before whispering thank yous and drying off. Shizuo was standing in the corner with some unreadable emotion in his eyes, but Izaya could see one emotion, guilt.

"So they're after something?" Shinra asked, having fished out the bullet. Lucky for Erika, the bullet wasn't near anything too major, and it hadn't gone all of the way through, which stopped most of the blood loss. He fixed it the best he could, sewing the would. They borrowed one of Izaya's yukatas for Shinra to change her into, so she could dry off. Then, Izaya let them use her bed for her to lay on.

"Is everyone else alright?" Shinra asked the group of shaking people, whom nodded shakily. It seemed Izaya had, as Celty had called it, shifted into mama-bear mode. He came down with blankets for everyone, and then gave them all hot chocolate. For a while they all stared at it in surprise, shocked at how nice the ex-informant broker was being.

Izaya crossed his arms and then watched them all for a moment, then saying,"I think we should all get some rest, it's been a very stressful day. I don't have any more rooms for you, but I can offer more blankets, and the floor" Nobody seemed to complain, still in a daze. They all lied down on their make-shift beds and fell asleep rather quickly.. Well, almost everyone.

Shizuo found himself staring up at the ceiling, his fists clenched in frustration. He was so very angry, but he didn't want to break anything that their surprisingly gracious host owned. Shizuo felt like a total failure. In his judge-filled view of Izaya, he was quick to jump on the bandwagon to keep an eye on him, to keep the others safe. But it was the second he left Ikebukuro that one of his friends got hurt. He felt so guilty..

His nose twitched, catching that ever so familiar scent in the kitchen. He sighed and decided that he needed to do something, and quickly sat up. Walking into the other room, he found Izaya mixing some pot on the stove, while petting a purring cat on the counter next to him. Izaya's red eyes turned towards the blonde, doing a double take as he realized that someone was indeed there. He jumped slightly, causing the yellow liquid in the pot to slosh and sizzle a little.

"Oh.. Hey Shizuo.." He said awkwardly, looking down. Shizuo sighed and whispered,"Hey.." He leaned against the concave corner of the counter and sighed, looking down. "Well.. The gang is all back together I guess.." Shizuo said.

Izaya made a snorting noise, and then said,"In a different way than I would have hoped though.." He lowered the heat on the stove and grabbed some stuff from the pantry. While he was doing that, Shizuo lowered his head and sighed. Maybe they could have all reunited in a different way if he hadn't been so suspicious of Izaya and remembered that the attacks were happening _in_ Ikebukuro, not Umizoinogake. He was such an idiot..

He would have continued down his destructive train of thought if someone hadn't bonked him on his head with a box of noodles. He looked up, seeing Izaya with the hairstyle Yachi had given him, wearing a red apron and holding some vegetables, and noodles. He pointed the tall, green plant at Shizuo, and narrowed his eyes. "I know what your thinking, stop thinking it, it's not your fault," He declared.

"But-," Shizuo began,"But if I hadn't been so quick to decide, forgetting about everything else.. And if I hadn't been suspicious of you.. Then maybe it wouldn't have happened.."

Izaya frowned and then interrupted him, saying,"No, Shizuo. You had every right to be suspicious it may have been me. I never exactly came back to Ikebukuro to show I had changed.. You had every right to as suspicious as you were.."

"But- But even after I met your kids.. I yelled at them and I scared you.. I can tell you're scared of me.. " Shizuo awkwardly said, looking down shamefully, sad that he had managed to scare even the only person who claimed to not fear him.

Izaya sighed and dropped the carrot he was holding, and looking at Shizuo. "Listen, I'm n-not scared of this Shizuo.. I'm scared of my enemy Shizuo. Don't be guilty Shizuo.. I actually have a lot to thank you for.. If.. If we never had that final fight, I wouldn't be here today.. I would have never gone to the hospital, would have never met Yachi, and would have never changed.. You helped me.. Thank you," He whispered, then took a breath, as Shizuo could only stare in shock.

Izaya began to blush badly, before he said,"A-and anyways, don't be guilty, it wasn't your fault. Plus everyone is safe now, so there's no need to- Mmf!" Izaya could barley release a cry of surprise as Shizuo suddenly yanked him into a bear hug, lifting the slighter male off his feet, and burying his face in Izaya's shoulder. Izaya dropped what he was holding in surprise, his legs flailing for a moment.

"I'm sorry.." Shizuo whispered,"And.. Thank you.. For giving me a second chance.." He seemed genuinely upset, and for some reason Izaya's heart twisted tightly. He wrapped his arms around Shizuo's neck, hugging him back the best he could. "I should be the one thanking you.." Izaya told him,"Even after everything I did to you, framing you, getting you fired from your jobs.. You still were willing to give me a second chance.. I'm sorry for everything I did"

Shizuo felt his heart skip several beats at those words, and he hugged Izaya even tighter. For some reason.. It felt just right, like they were two puzzle piece that had been put together finally, after months of struggling to put the rest of the pieces together. Shizuo felt his heart get surrounded with a blissful, warm feeling. He could stay like this forever, and so could Izaya.

However, Shizuo seemed to realize that he had held Izaya for quite a long time, and blushed badly before putting him down. "S-sorry.." He muttered again. "No! No it's fine!" Izaya quickly replied. _I liked it.._

He knelt down and picked up the food he had dropped, beginning to cook again. "What are you making that for?" He heard a certain blonde ask curiously. Turning to Shizuo, he wiggled the leek and said,"I'm making Erika some soup, for when she wakes up, I'm sure she'll be hungry"

Shizuo shuffled his feet awkwardly, before asking,"Can I help?" He looked like a puppy dog with his big brown eyes, there was no way Izaya could refuse.

He gave a gentle smile at Shizuo, causing the blonde's heart to jerk slightly. He put it off to the fact that he was probably just still surprised to see a nice smile from Izaya. "Sure!" Izaya said happily, handing him some ingredients. "Help me cut and season these for the ramen, if you're lucky, I'll let you lick the spoon!" He said happily, before holding a finger to Shizuo's lips. "Shh! Don't tell Yachi!" Shizuo smirked slightly, before nodding.

The rest of their time together was happy, and peaceful, though they didn't say much as they worked on the food. Izaya and Shizuo both found it nice, to not fight, and work together, even on such a small task like cooking something.

It felt so.. Right.

For the first time in his life, Shizuo didn't want what was happening to change.

He wanted to feel this way with Izaya forever, so beautiful, so peaceful

So happy..


	10. Chapter 10

_**I'm really glad you guys are all enjoying how this story is coming along, and I'm certainly enjoying writing it. This story has such a following I'm amazed and I love you all for it! Though I am kinda sad that I am coming closer to the end of this story ;-;.. But we'll keep going strong until that happens!**_

 _ **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Just a note, this chapter is basically Izaya bonding with everyone and the next chapter will pretty much be the same. I hope you don't mind, but I think it works with the flow of the story itself.**_

 _ **ALSO, to the guest reviewer Lily. I DID NOT ABANDON THIS STORY. I do not appreciate you trying to get my attention by hopping onto all my other stories. I don't update this story very easily, it's one of my most popular, and it takes a long time for me to come up with a plot that works for each chapter. This chapter alone has been rewritten at least 7 times by now, so please, DO NOT PESTER ME. Pestering me just makes me frustrated, and not want to type anymore. In conclusion, your annoying reviews have been driving me crazy. Thank you, and please stop. :)**_

 _ **Also, if this seems a little rushed, it's pretty easy to discern why**_ _ **I wanted to get this out to you guys already, you have all waited long enough. I'll probably go back and fix this later.**_

– – – – – –

Erika's rise to consciousness was a slow, but steady one.

The young woman drowsily opened her eyes, groaning a bit from the steady light hitting them. The ceiling above her was.. Unfamiliar, and the otaku couldn't seem to remember what happened to herself. And.. Where was she?

Erika placed her hands on either side of the futon, and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She groaned slightly from the pain in her stomach, before taking a looked around the room. She could hear what sounded like the ocean, and the gentle smell of it was coming from the closed window. Erika looked around and decided to examine her surroundings a little more.

She was in a nice futon that was a red color, with a red cylinder pillow lined with black. The floor was simple oak paneled, and the walls were a nice green color. There was an oak desk covered with papers, a computer, and a few cute knickknacks. On the walls were picture frames that were too far for Erika herself to see. There was a brown sliding door that probably led outside. Looking down once more, she realized she was wearing an unfamiliar blue yukata. "W-where are my clothes?" She croaked out of her dry throat.

As if responding to her voice, a weight near her waist shifted. Erika looked down again, seeing her blonde friend, Walker, asleep against the side of the futon. He grunted drowsily, before lifting his head and looking at Erika. He seemed to be half asleep, as he stared at her for a moment before going to lay back down.

However, the fact his friend was awake suddenly registered in his mind, as he quickly jerked his head up. "ERIKA!" He exclaimed loudly, tears tumbling from his closed eyes, as he threw himself at her, hugging her tightly. He began to peck kisses all down her cheek, continuing to whisper her name in relief.

Already disoriented, Erika found herself becoming even more confused as the door suddenly slammed open, revealing the rest of their gang. Kadota had a panicked look on his face, running in but breathing deeply in relief as he saw Erika was alright. Saburo was right behind him, as several people flowed in, it was making her dizzy, it was complete sensory overload!

"Oi! Oi! One at a time! You're going to make her faint again!" A familiar voice yelled, as everyone in the room looked guilty, before filing towards the door again, though some stayed in the doorway. Erika groaned, bringing her hand up and rubbing her forehead slightly. Her head really hurt, she was so confused.

"W-where am I?" She questioned softly.

Walking in the room, holding a bowl with a soft smile, was Izaya. "You're at my home, Karisawa-san, they brought you here so Shinra could help you out," The raven said, before handing the bowl to Kadota.

"Oh.. Whusdat?" Erika asked drowsily, pointing at the bowl. Izaya simply replied,"Soup, me and Shizuo made it for you for when you woke up"

Erika gasped, her eyes widening. "You.. And Shizu-chan..?" She whispered softly, before a wide grin overcame her face. "Oh my god! It's a dream come true~! My favorite couple feeding me food they cooked together! This is just like Shougeki no Sama!" 

Izaya's eyes widened, finally realizing why Erika got excited, before a blush over came his face. Shizuo, who was leaning against the doorway, suddenly turned red as well. Everyone else stared at the two curiously. Shizuo finally muttered,"It's just soup.. Nuthin' special.."

"H-how are you feeling?" Kadota asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the awkward topic. Erika thought about it for a moment, listening to the violent wind and rain outside.

With a soft noise, she simply said,"I feel like I got shot" Everyone blanched slightly at the very obvious observation made, but it was rather true. "But I feel much better, just really sore," She explained.

Shinra nodded, and replied,"Well, that's good, if you were in extreme pain I'd worry. Luckily no vital organs were hit, so it was more of a flesh would than anything, you may not want to do more than sit up for a day or two"

Erika nodded at Shinra, before yawning slightly and rubbing her eyes. "Mm.. M'kay, can I have some soup..?" She asked, and Walker nodded quickly, snatching the bowl from Kadota and running back over to her.

He carefully helped her sit up a bit, so that she wouldn't hurt too bad, and began to carefully feed her. Erika felt relieved as the broth hit her taste buds, the warmth filling her pained body. Kadota and Saburo settled down in the room, feeling extremely protective over their friend. Shizuo's face was relieved, and he settled against a wall nearby, looking guiltily up at Erika from time to time.

"Ne? Shizu-chan..?" Erika asked quietly, noticing his silence. "Why you look so sad?" Shizuo's eyes widened behind his blue glasses, as if he didn't expected to be asked such a question. He had been trying his best to hide his glances, but it seemed that he had been caught.

Looking down, he quickly muttered,"No, I'm not sad, you're just seeing things, this is my normal face-"

"He's blaming himself for what happened even though he wasn't there," Izaya butted in from the stairs, walking in the room with Erika's clothes and placing them next to the woman.

Shizuo's eyes widened at the sudden betrayal, and yelled,"Oi! You fucking louse! Don't just give away information like that!" Izaya grabbed an extra pillow from nearby, and threw it at Shizuo's face.

"Language! There are little ears in this house!" Izaya hissed, while Shizuo slapped the pillow away, his rage increasing.

Celty quickly jumped into the middle of them, and held up her phone to Shizuo. **[Is he telling the truth?]** She asked **[Do you really blame yourself for all this?]**

Shizuo opened his mouth, before quickly shutting it, his brown eyes going to look at the floor. ""If I was there.." He muttered,"I could have helped-"

"Um.. Heiwajima-san," Mikado interjected,"I don't think you could have helped even if you wanted to.. None of us saw it coming.. And they had guns. There was a bunch of them, they could have shot you down before we could have stopped them.." Everyone nodded in agreement, including Erika.

Erika suddenly yawned, and closed her eyes. "Mm.. Gonna go back ta' sleep for a lil' while.." She muttered, before relaxing into slumber quickly. Walker looked slightly panicked, but Shinra quickly said,"Don't worry, she's probably tired from the overload of a new environment and the stress of what happened before you guys got here, rest will do her loads"

"Okay.." Walker agreed quietly.

Izaya watched the scene for a moment, feeling slightly lonely. It still was evident they held some distrust for him. He wasn't a part of this group, not before he had changed, and not now. Izaya felt hurt, but he knew that was how it was going to be until he could prove to them all he truly was not a bad person anymore. But that was second on his agenda, his first priority in his life now was being a father.

Speaking of which..

Izaya turned and walked out of the room without a word, causing eyes to follow him. He walked to Yachi's room, which had many different colorful paper flowers taped to the door. He carefully slid the door open, and peeked in.

Yachi was halfway out of her futon, a foot out of the covers, a hand out on the other side, her other arm hugging her stuffed dog. Her brown hair was sticking out in almost every direction possible, and somehow sleeping peacefully in such a strange position.

Izaya stepped over the girl's drawings and dolls, ignoring the eyes watching from the door as he turned on the lamp in the corner of Yachi's room. Usually, he would open the curtains to let the sun in, but with the rain the way it was, he merely turned on the lamp.

Yachi grunted at the light, and scrunched her face up, before pulling her limbs back into the covers and pulling it over her head. Izaya couldn't help the fond smile, his daughter always hated waking up in the mornings. "Yachi, come on, it's time to get up and have breakfast," He told her softly, kneeling next to the futon.

Yachi groaned under the blanket, and muttered,"Dun wanna.." Izaya rolled his eyes, before grasping the purple cover and pulling it off of Yachi slowly.

"If I let you stay in your pajamas until after breakfast, will you get up?" He asked softly, watching as his little girl drowsily nodded. Then, she looked up at him and raised her hands in the air.

"Carry me?" The girl requested.

Izaya smiled again, eyes softening even more. He slid his hands under Yachi, bringing her into his arms. She drowsily wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, keeping her head in his neck. Izaya held his six year old daughter, walking downstairs. Yachi wasn't fazed by the large amount of people in the hallway, whom were eavesdropping not-so sneakily. "Morning everybody.." She drowsily said, waving her small hand softly.

Mikado smiled softly, and waved back, before heading downstairs as well. Masomi and Anri quickly followed, not wanting to leave Mikado alone with Izaya. Slowly, everyone flowed back downstairs, even Walker. They were hungry, and all wanted to ask for food, but weren't sure if Izaya would refuse or if he would cook for them. They were kinda freeloading at the moment.

Izaya set Yachi down by the Kotatsu, before heading back upstairs, and the little girl scooted so that she was under the Totoro comforter, and lied her head on the table. She brought up her small hand, petting the cat that was sitting on the table. The scruffy cat grunted, before stretching out again and allowing the girl to pet him. "Mornin' Rusty.." The child whispered.

Though Yachi was still drowsy, it seemed that Izaya's other child was more energetic. "Dada!" The blonde baby squealed excitedly in Izaya's arms. Then, there it was again, the fond and happy look in Izaya's eyes. He truly seemed to care for the children with all his heart, it confused a lot of the people in the room.

Shinra watched, and felt guilty. He knew Izaya the most, he knew Izaya wasn't cold blooded. His heart was brittle, it was filled with love or betrayal so easily that Izaya decided just to avoid it all together. Shinra knew, when he first snapped at Izaya he knew he would be breaking the man's heart. He realized now that he did, but Izaya found something to fill it with. His children. Shinra wanted to apologize, he really did.. But how could he apologize for something he didn't regret.

"Dada! Baba!" Yukine exclaimed excitedly, raising his small hands in the air, blue eyes determined. Izaya smiled, placing the baby in his high chair. "Yuki, no baba today, okay? You get a sippy cup today~!" He told him.

Yukine merely giggled, and said,"Dada!" So, Izaya brought the sippy cup over to Yukine, and placed it on the high chair. Then, he moved out of the way very quickly. Yachi also ducked under the Kotatsu, the cat following her. What? Why were they hiding? Yukine brought his baby hands forward, picking up the sippy cup with one hand and staring at it curiously.

Then, he threw it, hard.

It slammed against the ground a few feet away, bouncing off the hardwood floor and rolling against the ground. The baby seemed pleased with himself, he giggled, clapping his hands together proudly, and releasing many unintelligible words as he did so.

Izaya knelt down, picking the cup up and checking it for scratches, before handing it back to the child. Yukine seemed to have calmed down now, and began to sip from the cup happily. Yachi giggled, now sitting normally again.

"Daddy got hit in the face one time!" She said in a matter-of-fact tone,"Yuki was upset that he wasn't going to be getting bottles anymore, so he threw it and it hit daddy in the head!"

Shinra snorted, and several people chuckled in amusement as Izaya blushed. Yachi looked excited at making everyone laugh, and smiled shyly, before ducking under the Kotatsu again. She crawled through it and ran to Izaya, hugging his leg. "Daddy, what's for breakfast?" She asked curiously.

"Well, carrots and peas for Yuki," Izaya began, already taking the top off some baby food jar. "And I was thinking Miso Soup and steamed rice for everyone else, since that's the only thing I have enough of to feed everyone," He explained. Yachi seemed satisfied, and nodded, running back to the table.

"Everyone else? You're feeding us?" Masomi asked suspiciously. Izaya gave him an exasperated look, before he replied,"Yes, I am. There is no way anyone will be safe in that wind, especially downhill, so no way to go get takeout, and I don't trust you alone near my kitchen. So I'll feed you until the storm dies down, okay?"

Everyone seemed to agree with him, especially with the wind outside. Yachi seemed to still be talkative, as she excitedly said,"This storm isn't that bad! We had a HUGE one last year! The water got really high up, and people stayed in our house like right now, cuz their houses were filled with water and fishies!"

"Oh really?" Kadota asked, deciding to appease the child. Izaya smiled softly, remembering how gentle Kadota was with kids, despite his appearance.

Yachi nodded. "Yeah! The police were on boats, and rowing everyone to shore! It was like the movie Ponyo! And I got to be Ponyo with my friend Sosuke! That mean old lady Yoshi from the senior center thought we were splashing too much, but I think she's just angry that she couldn't be Ponyo!" She said excitedly.

"Yachi, be respectful," Izaya told her from the kitchen, setting the miso to warm up. Yachi blushed, before muttering an apology and hiding her face, having been caught insulting her elders.

Mikado smiled softly, before standing up and walking to the kitchen. He looked at Izaya hesitantly, before asking,"Can I do the rest for you, Izaya-san?"

"Ah, sure," Izaya said in surprise, and backed away. "Thanks Mikado-kun" The raven went back to his six month old, while Mikado began to dish out the food. He simply felt bad for Izaya, serving all of them when they were freeloading and not moving to help, when he had to children to care for.

Once the meal was dished out, and Yukine had finished eating, everyone was merely sitting. Izaya was sitting by Yachi in the Kotatsu, Yukine in his lap and babbling excitedly, enjoying his dad's attention. That's when two things happened at once.

There was a clap of thunder, and the lights flickered, before shutting completely off. Then, there was a knock at the door, a loud and frantic one. Kadota, Saburo, Walker, Maomi, Mikado, and Anri all froze, suddenly their minds were going back to what had happened not even three days ago.

Shizuo grew very defensive, and went towards the sliding glass door, moving the shades slightly, trying to see who was at the door. He couldn't see, the heavy rain blocking his vision.

Izaya suspiciously moved towards the door, while everyone else remained in place. Then, Izaya opened the door, and gasped.

It was a drenched Lisa and Sosuke.

His gasp did nothing to calm the people who could not see the door, until Lisa flung herself at Izaya, burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing. Yachi had gotten up and ran over, whispering,"Sosuke-kun.." Her friend was messing with his hands and looking around worriedly.

Noticing the hostility in the room, Izaya looked back, and mouthed 'False Alarm' before his attention went back to the sobbing woman. "Lisa, what's the matter?" He asked softly.

Lisa looked up, wiping her tears and whispering,"K-Koichi.. He- He went on the boats.. And the rain started.. All the boats went to sea, a-and I don't h-have the r-radio.. It's in for repairs.. I j-just am worried! I needed to get a hold of him.."

Though the Izaya they remembered would have grown disgusted or told the woman that her petty troubles were not entertaining to him, this new Izaya hugged the girl tightly and then rubbed her back calmly. "Lisa, it's okay, I understand. I would be worried too, especially in this weather," He said softly,"Don't worry, once I get the power going, you can use the radio! But I want you to sit down for now, okay? Stress isn't good for you right now"

"Oh really?!" Lisa snapped sarcastically, before grabbing Izaya's ear and shaking his head. "You were the one who decided to go rouge for almost an entire day and stressed us all out, and you have yet to give me an explantion for that! You're still not off the hook!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Izaya squeaked,"Okay! I'll explain everything in a bit!" Lisa gave a satisfied huff, and released her hold on the raven, before walking over to the couch. Kadota and Mikado moved to sit up quickly, giving the scary woman a place to sit.

Izaya rubbed his ear for a second, before kneeling down next to Sosuke, who was still next to Yachi. "Hey kids, wanna help me get power back on?" He asked them, watching as their faces light up. "Yeah! Yeah!" They said excitedly.

Smiling, Izaya went to the wall, pulling off a lantern. It was a special type, that you charged in an outlet and once you pulled it out it would turn on. The yellow artificial light glowed in the darkness of the house, and Izaya handed it to Sosuke. The boy grinned, and placed it on his head.

"How are you gonna turn everything back on?" Kadota asked curiously, watching as Yachi ran over to him. She grabbed at his sleeve. "Come on mister, come and you'll see!" She asked him, putting on the best puppy dog eyes she could. Kadota was unable to resist the adorable child, and stood up. Saburo and Walker followed after quickly.

Izaya went to the door beside the kitchen, and opened it up. "Sosuke-kun, can you bring the light over?" He asked.

"Kay!" Sosuke said, standing in the doorway for Izaya, who knelt down by a block in the darkness. Saburo was able to make it out and made an impressed noise. "A generator?" He asked.

"Yeah, almost every house here is provided with one, considering we live on a beach where storms like this happen often," He explained, not noticing as Shizuo also walked into the doorway, smiling fondly.

Yachi nodded, before she continued,"One time the gen'rater didn't work, and it was really dark all night long. There was thunder and lighting, and I was really scared.. But daddy hugged me and I felt a lot better! But daddy was even more scared of the loud noises than I was-" 

The generator purred to life, and then Izaya smiled as the lights in the house turned back on. "Yay!" Yachi exclaimed excitedly, forgetting about what she was talking about before. "The lights are back on!"

"That means me and mom can call daddy! Thanks Uncle Iza!" Sosuke said happily, jumping up and down continuously. Izaya chuckled, red eyes amused, as he walked out of the room. "Hang on, little man, I still have to get the radio pole outside," He said.

Yachi hugged Izaya's leg, asking,"Daddy, can I help you get it out of the shed" Izaya grew a teasing grin, and then he knelt to her height, poking her nose.

"Don't you think you'll fly away, shorty?" He teased his daughter, who blushed before pushing Izaya to the ground playfully, but miscalculating and slipping with him. With a squeak of surprise, they both landed on the floor.

Yachi blanched in surprise for a second, before sitting up on Izaya's chest and pointing to Izaya. "I'm not short, you're just tall!" She exclaimed loudly.

Shizuo, who was leaning against the wall nearby, snorted and said,"Still short by my standards" Izaya gasped, fake betrayal entering his eyes as he held a hand over his heart.

"Shizuo, you wound me," Izaya said dramatically, as Yachi giggled and stood up, smiling at her dad. "Haha! Daddy he just called you short!" She teased, poking his nose back.

Izaya froze for a moment, before grinning and scooping is daughter into his arms as she squealed in surprise, giggles escaping her mouth. "Alright you little rascal!" He exclaimed,"Let's get your raincoat~"

They went upstairs, and Lisa smiled softly, bouncing Yukine softly on her knee. "He's such a good father, and such a good guy," She said softly. Kida snorted, making the woman look over and raise her eyebrows.

"Do you know anything about who he used to be? Are you really sure that you wanna be talking to someone like him, lady?" The faux blonde asked. Lisa suddenly looked angry. She sat up abruptly, and stopped bouncing her leg, making Yukine look up at her curiously.

"Of course I do!" She snapped,"It was one day, a really cold day, Yachi caught a horrible case of pneumonia, she has a weak immune system. Izaya was terrified, he told me everything. He was an informant broker, he used to torment people, he tormented you guys. But I don't think you guys realize how guilty he is about all that. He told me he regretted it, and he believes he deserves punishment. The only thing he could think of doing was leaving and never coming back, like someone told him to"

Shinra flinched.

"He just wants to be a good father now," Lisa said sadly,"He told me, in the hospital he had lost himself, then he met Yachi. His children are the only things keeping him in this world, then you all invade his life again after he left you alone.. You're hurting him, and I know he hurt you but that's no excuse. Please, don't hurt him, he's my friend. If you hurt him.. or any of his children, I'll make sure you'll regret every being born"

The second she finished speaking, an excitedly chattering Yachi and Izaya came back down the stairs. "And then daddy, I was thinking we could have my party on the beach, since last year we couldn't because of rain, do you think the rain will be gone in time for my party?"

"I'm pretty sure, it already isn't as bad as it was before," Izaya replied softly. He was now wearing a black raincoat, while Yachi wore and adorable duck raincoat with a tail and everything on the back.

Yachi giggled excitedly, before galloping out the door and yelling,"Off we go! On an adventure!" Izaya laughed, before running after her and out into the rain.

They all could see it, even if they tried to deny it. Whenever he was with his children, whether he was simply speaking about them or with them, his eyes lit out. He looked so happy, there was no denying the reason why he was happy.

It was because of the light in his life.

Izaya came back in a little while later, before leading Lisa to the radio. The woman was worried still, but sighed in relief as they heard Koichi's voice. He was out in sea, but he would be back soon. They came back, and Lisa was hugging Izaya thankfully. However, since Izaya was facing away from them, Lisa took that moment to send them a warning look, a look that promised pain.

"Daddy look! The rain is gone!" Yachi exclaimed excitedly, and pointed out the sliding door. Izaya smiled excitedly, saying,"Wonderful! I was worried it would get worse than before!"

Lisa smiled, and said,"Well, I'll be going home now. See you soon, for the party, okay?" Izaya grinned again and nodded, before allowing the two to head back to their own home. Celty couldn't seem to handle her own curiosity, as she asked **[Party?]**

"My party!" Yachi told her happily,"I'm turning seven! I'm going to be an ever bigger girl now! I'm growing up!"

Izaya sighed sadly, and replied,"I wish you would stop growing, you're getting too big, you need to slow down!"

"No daddy, I'm gonna grow up and be a big girl!" Yachi declared defiantly.

"Oh?" Izaya asked her, walking to the sliding door and opening the curtains a little bigger, holding Yukine with one arm. "Okay then, but you have to promise me to never date okay? You're not allowed to!" Yachi giggled, running over to Izaya, hugging him tightly.

"Daddy is so silly~"

Yachi then noticed movement on the mountain again. "Oh?" She asked softly, tugging on her dad's side and pointing. "Daddy, who is that?" Everyone froze again, wanting to see what Yachi was staring at.

"Is that another one of your friends?" Shinra asked softly, and Izaya grew a soft smile again. He shrugged,"Well, kinda.. Remember that person I called on the phone two days ago?"

Kida was suspicious. "Called someone?" He asked, and Izaya looked at him, eyes filled with a sudden serious tone. "Someone to help me with my theories on these attacks, Kida-kun," He explained,"I was waiting for them to get here before I worked on my theory"

Izaya went to the sliding door, opening it up. "It's good to see you again," He said, walking out into the still-cloudy sky. "Sorry, I didn't know the storm would have gotten this bad"

"It's okay, Izaya-san, the weather isn't your fault!" A familiar voice said, Kadota, Walker, Saburo and Kida suddenly froze, before Kida jumped off the couch and shoving people out of the way.

He felt rage building up, like a wildfire.

The person Izaya called..

It was..

"Saki?!"


	11. Chapter 11

_**Dear lovely followers,**_

 _ **I want everyone to know that all other stories are going to be put on hold until Change of Heart is finished.**_

 _ **It may take a while. It takes a long time for me to churn out a chapter for it since it's a popular story and I feel a lot of pressure to write good chapters. But I know procrastinating won't make it better. My goal is to try and get one chapter out every week or two, since I have the next few planned out.**_

 _ **Change of Heart will probably have at least another 10 chapters before it's finished, but I just wanted everyone to know it'll be my main focus until it's finished. In fact, the next chapter is already in the works as I write this.**_

 _ **I hope you understand, and enjoy this chapter ^_^**_

* * *

Words could not describe the rage Masomi felt.

Saki stood there, looking as beautiful as ever. Her dyed hair now reaching her shoulders, she was wearing a black undershirt with a grey coat that reached her stomach with a magenta skirt, black tights, and black shoes. Having not seen her for a while, Masomi thought she looked even more beautiful.

Last time Masomi had seen her, she was headed off to take her high school proficiency exam and then go to college. They had decided that while she was working on getting her degree, he would find a job and get them a place to live in Ikebukuro. They had a whole plan, he had the apartment now, but she was still supposed to be at college..

So.. So why was she here?!

"I'm sorry for bringing you here on such short notice, Saki, but I really needed your help," Izaya suddenly said, breaking Masomi out of his thoughts.

Saki turned towards Izaya, a smile breaking out on her face. "It's no trouble at all, Izaya-kun," She said, Masomi felt his heart burn with rage at hearing her use Izaya's first name. But, she still continued,"Besides, I owe you one, of course I would come."

Izaya smiled, opening his mouth to reply, when suddenly a fist was thrown at his face. Izaya lurched back quickly, his free hand grabbing Yachi and yanking her back with him while his other hand held Yukine close. In front of them was an enraged Masomi. His fists were clenched so hard they were almost white, as his teeth ground together.

"She owes you?!" He snarled,"She OWES YOU?! I thought you stopped messing with us! What did you do to her you bastard?!"

Izaya held up his free hand quickly, while discreetly moving in front of Yachi. "Kida-kun, I swear on my life I didn't hurt her," He tried to say,"I'm not like that anymore."

"YOU LIAR!" Masomi yelled loudly,"YOU'RE ALWAYS LYING! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Saki suddenly grabbed his shoulders, yanking him back as well. "No! Masomi-kun, he's telling the truth! He's a good person now! He helped me!" She promised, her voice shaking a little as she tried to convince him.

Masomi froze, growling loudly before he yanked himself out of her hold, and turned to stare at his girlfriend. "Oh yeah?!" He sneered,"How could that bastard ever be a good person?! Name one thing he's done to you other than brainwashing you, manipulating you, and controlling you!"

Saki frowned at this, lowering her hands, and giving him a sincere stare. For several moments, she didn't speak. Finally, she asked,"How do you think I could afford to go to college?"

Masomi didn't understand at first, but after a few seconds it clicked. "He.. He paid your college funds?" He stuttered out, gaining a nod from Saki. He whipped his head back around, turning to look at Izaya.

Several people were now staring at Izaya to see if it was true, and the man in question had turned to look away with a blush on his face. "But.." Masomi questioned,"But why keep it a secret? Why didn't you tell me?"

He stared right at Izaya, who looked up for a split moment, and replied,"I didn't want you to pretend to like me because you felt _obligated_ to. If we ever were to meet again, I wanted to prove I was a good person. I didn't want to use my money to get people to like me."

"Then.. Then why still do it?" Masomi asked, desperately trying to find another reason to hate the raven.

At that, Izaya simply smiled. "Because," He began,"Saki is much smarter than she gives herself credit for, she has a lot of potential to be something great when I'm not meddling with her. It was a mix of an apology and a gift. I knew she deserved to find what her dream job was, she deserved to be happy after what I did to her.."

"Izaya-kun, it's okay, you know I've already forgiven you," She simply said, noticing Izaya slump into a more depressed attitude. Izaya caught himself, and gave her a grateful, nervous smile.

"But I promised that if anything happened, I'd try and help. Kida-kun, Izaya would never bring me somewhere if he thought I was in danger, I'm here to help with the mental exercise, not the physical exercise. Don't worry, everything will be okay," She promised, holding his hand, and giving a soft, gentle smile.

Masomi still was trying to process everything, and slowly nodded. Saki smiled again, before turning and walking into the house. Everyone wasn't really sure what to say, so they just followed her back in. Izaya moved to the couch, sitting down. He then took Yachi's hand, and softly said,"Sweetie, why don't you go gather your new drawings so Saki-nii can see them?"

Yachi gasped excitedly and nodded. She jumped over the couch, and then ran towards the stairs. However, she had to stop at the front of the stairs to catch her breath, and then continued her gallivanting up to the second floor.

Everyone was silent until the tiny footsteps stopped. Once silence reigned supreme, Kadota turned to look at Izaya. "Now that Saki is here, are you going to tell us your theory?" He asked.

Izaya nodded. "Of course," He said,"It's not much of a theory, but it's something I thought everyone would have thought of before, I'm surprised no one did."

Everyone leaned forward as Izaya adjusted Yukine so the baby boy was in his lap. Then, Izaya began,"These attacks are obviously planned. Each one, even the attack on Shizuo, that was no 'stroke of luck' that they found you. Everything has been planned, every attack, every area, every time. I doubt the victims were planned, except maybe Shizuo. But why would they plan everything so perfectly, what is their motive, what do they want? People like these murderers always have a reason for doing this."

Izaya held up one finger, and firmly declared,"Somewhere in these attacks, they've left a message. I don't think they left it just in one of their attacks, since you tell me the attacks have stopped. They're waiting for someone to figure it out, if they aren't attacking anymore. Something from this will spell out their message. Whether it be the location, the number of victims, or the time. I don't know. That's why Saki is here to help me, to decode these attacks one by one."

Everyone sat back, taking in what Izaya said. "Whoa.." Shinra whispered,"I think you may be right.. There hasn't been an attack for almost two months, but there was a kind of routine before.. They are leaving a message?"

 **[But what could they be trying to leave as a message?]** Celty questioned. **[What could be so important that they murdered innocent people to get people to figure out?]**

Izaya ran a hand through his hair, before firmly saying,"They want to go out with a bang. They want people to remember them, I bet whatever this message will say is probably a hint to what, where, or when they plan to do this."

"A grand finale.." Walker whispered, clenching his fists. "We can't let them get away with this, they hurt Erika. I'll never forgive them. I want them all to pay."

"They will," Izaya promised,"But we can't do anything until we figure out what their plan is. So, me and Saki will work on it. Anyone else that wants to help can, if we are going to stop them, we need to work together."

Nobody dared to argue Izaya's point, because there was nothing to argue. The raven was right, as a group they had many people of different talents. As long as they kept calm, and kept their eyes on their goal, they knew they could succeed.

They would stop these murderers no matter what.

* * *

The tone changed when Yachi came back downstairs, and Izaya's seriousness melted away once more. The girl bounded down the stairs, placing some papers on the coffee table. "Saki-nii, come look at my drawings!" She said excitedly,"And everyone else can see them if they want to."

A few people went to make an excuse about needing to start Izaya's plan, but Izaya simply declared,"Don't try. That 'if you want to' is a nicer way of saying 'You have no choice.' When Yachi puts her mind to something, she's not changing it."

Yachi watched her dad, listening to what he said, before nodding in agreement. She then pulled out the first paper, and placed it down. "This is a picture of Yeti! Our doggy," She explained, before grabbing another picture.

"This is my baby brother Yukine," She explained,"It was when me and daddy first brought him home. Yukine was very sick when we first found him, but he's doing really good now."

"Found him?" Kadota asked curiously,"I thought you adopted him?" Everyone would be lying if they claimed that they didn't have the same question, so the looked towards Izaya.

Izaya frowned at all the stares, feeling slightly discomforted."Well, I did adopt him. But not from an orphanage," He explained,"About six months ago, me and Yachi had gone to the Hyogo prefecture for a meeting, and to sightsee. But when we were heading home, we heard crying. We found Yukine in an alleyway in a box, covered in snow. So we took him to the hospital, then I adopted him."

Anri was the one of the few who looked the most surprised. "Orihara-san, that is a very noble thing for you to do," She softly remarked,"Much unlike you before.."

Izaya's face filled with shame, as he looked down at the slumped over, sleeping baby in his lips. "I know.." He muttered,"But I wouldn't even be able to understand how to be human if it weren't for people like Shizuo and Shinra opening my eyes to just how horrible I'd been.. I wish I could change what I did. But I can't, even if I really regret it, I really wish I could take away all the pain I caused."

Izaya's pale, scarred hands began to shake, his eyes growing downcast. He then quickly lifted Yukine up in his arms, clearing his throats. "I- Um.." He stuttered,"I'm gonna go put Yukine down for his nap and then get to work on the- um.. Message."

With that, the raven hurried up the stairs. Yachi watched him go, frowning. "I don't like it when daddy is sad," She declared,"Sometimes I'll hear him having bad dreams, like I do. Sometimes he is really sad and doesn't get any work done. I hate when daddy is sad.. But I can cheer him up with a big hug!"

Yachi looked back down, but nobody really seemed to be able to comprehend what they had just seen or heard. Izaya looked depressed and guilty, and his six year old daughters confirmation that what they saw was not just a one time thing. It was a strange thought, but one that could be more easily accepted considering the change of heart they had seen so far.

The little girl suddenly looked up again. "Do you think that you all could help daddy feel better? I know he was a mean man a long time ago, but he's very nice now, and he wants to be your guys' friend," She softly explained,"Could you help him feel better too?"

Nobody said anything for a moment, before Shizuo decided to take initiative and nodded. "Yes, we'll try and help," He said, shocking everyone around him. Never in a million years did they expect Shizuo to want to help Izaya.

 _Oh if only Erika was downstairs right now.._ Saburo thought in amusement, a smile crawling up his face. _The storm from last night would be nothing compared to her fangirling._

Yachi smiled at them, and happily chirped,"Thank you!" After she said this, she went back to showing her drawings. Izaya eventually came downstairs, tapping Saki's shoulder and making sure to ask Yachi for permission before taking her big sister away. Yachi agreed, since Saki had already seen most of her drawings but these people hadn't, so she could chatter everyone else's ears off instead.

This is how things went for a while, until about an hour later. The doorknob jiggled, and suddenly whooshed open. Everyone jumped, turning to look at the entrance. But instead of Lisa and her son, it was a red haired woman with lavender eyes. Her face was overcast, lipstick covered lips low in a frown, and face overcast. Her fist clenched tightly around the purple shopping bag in her hand.

Yachi looked up, making a curious noise. Turning to look over the couch, she then grinned. "Oh! Auntie Aikawa! Hello!" She exclaimed excitedly, waving her hand at her.

Suddenly, the angered and scary face melted away. Her face grew a smile, and her voice was gentle as she sweetly said,"Hello Chi-chan! Good to see you again! Can you tell me where your daddy is? I need to talk to him~"

"Mhmm," Yachi happily replied,"He's in his office with Saki-nii."

Aikawa smiled wider, reaching into her bag and pulling out a nice, wrapped bag of chocolates. "Here, I brought you some of my homemade chocolates you like," She said. Yachi gasped excitedly, taking the bag and thanking her happily. She turned back around on the couch, swinging her feet as she tried to untie the ribbon.

The second the child turned around, Aikawa's face turned dark again as she spun around, storming down the hall. Yachi didn't seem to mind, too busy messing with the bag of truffles.

But all the adults watched the scary woman that seemed to be surrounded by a flaming ball of anger go to the door, lifting her leg, and kicking it open. There was a cry of surprise from both people on the other side, but that didn't stop Aikawa. Instead, she walked into the office. "IZAYA-SENSEI!" She yelled, and there could be crashing heard, making everyone jump in shock. "WHERE IS YOUR MANUSCRIPT?!"

"I told you I was going to fax it to you when the power came back on!" Izaya tried to explain. "BUT YOU DIDN"T!" Aikawa exclaimed in response, some papers flying out of the room.

"Aikawa-san! Here, I have it right here," They heard Izaya exclaim, and then Aikawa's huge sigh of relief.

Then, all three of them walked out, Aikawa hugging a large stack of papers to her chest, looking like she had just been given a gift from god. She stood at the hallway for a moment, checking the papers slowly, while Izaya went over to Yachi. "Yachi, what do you want for lunch?" He asked.

Yachi made a curious noise, scratching at her head. "Hmm.. Miso, Rice, and Green tea?" She asked.

Izaya nodded, and asked,"Would you like some pork too, or maybe some fish?" Yachi gasped, jumping up and exclaiming,"Ooh! Pork! Pork!"

She stood on the couch, before leaping into Izaya's arms. The raven caught her and twirled around, the child giggling excitedly. "Can I help?" She asked hopefully, and Izaya nodded, walking into the kitchen with his daughter, Yeti galloping after them.

Aikawa watched them go, chuckling a bit, She flicked through the last few papers before she looked up, jumping as she realized just how many people were in the house. "Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise, and pressed the papers to her chest. "Hello! Are you Izaya-sensei's friends?"

The older adults looked at each other awkwardly, and Shinra finally replied,"Um.. Kind of? We're old acquaintances, this is the first time we've talked in awhile. I'm Kishatani Shinra, may I know who you are?"

"I'm Aikawa Eri, I'm Izaya-sensei's editor," She explained,"It's nice to see him with friends, he's always working so hard on his job and taking care of his kids, I get worried about him sometimes. I've tried to get him to take a break or go on dates, but he figured it out really quick and I had to try a new plan. He's a really nice and caring guy, just not the type to date."

"Well, that's something that hasn't changed," Kadota muttered,"When we knew him, he never dated either, he was always working. I don't think he's the type for romance. But then again, none of us ever thought he'd be the type to adopt kids either."

Aikawa sighed with a smile crawling across her face. "Yeah, but he's a really good dad," She said softly,"He'd do anything for Yachi and Yukine. His friend Lisa told me the only reason he sent in his drafts to us was because she convinced him that Yachi would love it if he was an author. He doesn't really care about anything besides being a good parent and providing the best life for them, sometimes I think that if it weren't for them, he may have just given up."

"Given up?" Masomi asked curiously, unable to hide his need to know what the woman was talking about.

Aikawa seemed to think for a moment, before she replied,"Izaya-sensei was in the

hospital a few years ago, his arms were completely broken and he couldn't walk. He told me that he probably would have just rotted away, he didn't think he deserved to be healthy. But then he met Yachi, and he signed up for physical therapy the same day."

The woman smiled wider, releasing a happy breath. "He does everything for his kids, they're the lights in his life, just as much as he is to them. Even if I don't know him as well as you guys or Lisa, I'm proud of how far he's come," She finished, when her phone beeped. She pulled it out, and gasped.

"Ahh! Izaya-sensei, I have to leave now, or I'll be late to the meeting!" She exclaimed loudly. Almost right after, a blur of light brown hair ran right into Aikawa. Yachi hid her face in Aikawa's face, and relaxed against her, her energy suddenly gone. "Bye bye auntie Aikawa, will you come back soon?" She asked hopefully.

Aikawa smiled, hugging the girl back. "Be safe on the drive back," Izaya said from the doorway, now wearing a red apron,"Have a nice day."

The red haired woman left, leaving the thoughts that they had heard and been told recently. First there was Lisa, then Aikawa, and even Izaya himself. Most everyone found their suspicions melting away.

Maybe Izaya really was able to change..

* * *

The rest of the day really was calm. Izaya made dinner for everyone, Kadota and his gang ate upstairs with Erika, and managed to joke around a bit with Shinra while Yachi chatted excitedly to everyone about how her birthday was in two days. Yukine came downstairs right before dinner, but spent the time he wasn't being fed babbling random words, until everyone decided to go to bed. All in all, the day eventually became relaxing for just about everybody.

One of the exceptions to the calm mood was Masomi.

He found himself staring at the ceiling, sleeping in an extra futon with Saki. He looked at the clock, 2am. Masomi sighed, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to fall asleep. His mind was whirling with confusion, as he tried to figure out what his opinion of Izaya was now.

Part of his mind wanted to still hate Izaya, he still had many reasons to. What with the whole yellow scarves incident, Saki, and all the chaos he caused afterward. But a small part of his mind oozed into that part, reminding him of many good things. The fact Izaya had adopted the kids, since it seemed Izaya was raising them right, like real happy and innocent children, the women who talked about him, and Izaya's own attitude. It helped that he had stayed away and not caused trouble, he wasn't even an informant broker anymore.

But the biggest reason was Saki. He really payed for her university fund.. Sure, it wasn't as expensive as American schools, but neither of them had the money to pay for it still, most of their money went towards their apartment.

He knew Saki hated being stuck in their tough routine, that she wanted to follow her dreams. But those dreams required a higher education, something they couldn't afford. Izaya helped Saki get there, the person he cared about the most. Now, he couldn't help but feel thankful, and a grudging amount of respect towards the raven. But.. Could it become more than that? Did Masomi _want_ it to?

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light. His nerves flying, he sat up to see what it was. When he couldn't get a good look, he wiggled out of the futon and stood up.

The fridge was open, and he could see a familiar head of inky black hair. It was Izaya, whose hair was a mess and his eyes baggy with what looked like exhaustion. He was pouring what looked like creamer into a mug. He then put it back in the fridge, and walked down the hall. _What is he still doing up?_ Masomi wondered. _Didn't he say he was planning to go into town tomorrow, why stay up this late?_

Masomi slowly maneuvered around all the sleeping bodies, and wandered towards the door. He could see the light of a computer, and Izaya hunched over it. There were several papers around him, and a few maps. "What are you doing?" He quietly asked.

Izaya turned around, his glasses askew. "Oh," He breathed out, caught off guard,"Did I wake you?" His eyes showed care Masomi wasn't used to, he looked honestly concerned that he had bothered Masomi.

Masomi shook his head, walking into the room. He moved closer, looking at the screen. He could see several tabs open, all news reports from Ikebukuro relating to the attacks. On the screen now was a map of Ikebukuro, with several red dots in places where some of the murders were said to happen.

"You're still working on this?" He asked, gaining an innocent look from Izaya, along with a nod.

Izaya turned around in his chair, facing Masomi and revealing the tortoiseshell cat in his lap, as he crossed his arms. "Well yeah, I mean that's why you guys are all here," He said,"And we don't know when they are planning another attack, or if I'm even right, if we took too long and something happened.."

"Well, I agree," Masomi quickly replied,"But we have at least some time, and working too hard won't get us anywhere.."

"But.." Izaya began, his hand going to scratch Pooch's ears. "I owe you guys, all of you. Even if I work myself into exhaustion, even if you still don't forgive me, you don't have a reason to, I still want to help.."

Masomi frowned, brown eyes narrowing. Not out of suspicion, but out of pity and discomfort. Suddenly, something clicked for Masomi, and all doubts he had faded away.

If Izaya really was just messing with them, why would he be working so hard when nobody was around?

He was being genuine, he really wanted to help.

Crossing his arms, Masomi quickly looked away. "W-well.." He grumbled out,"You know, I think you don't owe me.. At least not as much, because of what you did for Saki. Plus, I mean.. It's not really your problem since you didn't do it, we kind of forced it on you. And.. Well, your kids wouldn't be happy if you worked yourself to death, and if you did I wouldn't be able to get to know you better.. Nobody would be able to.. So it would be more healthy if you went to bed.. You've been helping us so much already.. With shelter and food.. We owe you too."

Izaya stared at him blankly for a moment, before his eyes widened. He then brought up one hand, pointing at him. "Are you, Masomi Kida, actually trying to make Orihara Izaya feel better?" He questioned, eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Masomi felt his cheeks turning red, as he darkly muttered,"Shut up about it, it's nothing special.."

Izaya then scooted his chair over to the curtained window, pulling the blue curtain open, and staring outside. He squinted slightly, and Masomi couldn't help his curiosity. "What are you doing?" He asked, moving to look out the window too.

"I'm checking to see if pigs are flying," Izaya responded, causing Masomi to gasp and punch Izaya in the shoulder. "Hey!" He whined,"Shut up, I was actually trying to be nice for once and you make fun of me? Plus if anything, I should be the one looking for flying pigs.."

"Oh?" Izaya questioned,"And why would that be?"

"Because you did the one thing I thought you couldn't do," Masomi admitted,"Change."

Izaya's eyes widened, and his face flushed as he moved away from the window. "I mean that in a good way," Masomi quickly continued,"I mean, you helped Saki, and now that you're a good person, I want to get to know you. But not as the leader of the Yellow Scarves, as Masomi Kida."

Izaya smiled again, as he nodded. "I'd like that very much, Masomi-kun," He agreed. He looked at the computer on his desk for a moment, before reaching out in turning it off. "I guess you're right, I should go to bed.. I have to buy enough food to feed my new shelter I've apparently started, among other things."

Now, knowing he and Izaya were no longer tense, Masomi felt a mischievous thought come in his mind. "Oh really?" He teased,"Are you sure you are just doing it so you and Shizuo can cook together more?"

Izaya froze, a blush suddenly coming over his face. "W-what?" He croaked out,"What's that supposed to mean?"

Masomi grinned like the chesire cat, as he spun around, gesturing wildly with his hand. "You know, I used to think Erika was batshit crazy," He began,"But seeing how he stares at you, and how you blush when he's close. Maybe she's right, you guys are totally in _looooov- Mhm!_ "

Masomi's teasing was stopped as a throw pillow suddenly hit him in the face. "You be quiet, I feel nothing for him," Izaya claimed, though his blushing face and shifty eyes told him otherwise.

"The first step is always denial, Izaya," Masomi teased again, making the raven roll his eyes, his hand going to cover his cheeks.

"I-if I'm going to get some rest, you should too," Izaya said, changing the subject,"You'll need it, I'm sure everyone will want to leave and explore when the sun comes up."

Masomi suddenly realized that he was indeed tired, and let out a soft yawn, as he stretched out. "Yeah, you're right.." He said softly, walking out the hallway with Izaya, who held the sleepy cat in his arms. Looking at the ground for a moment, Masomi finally declared,"You know, I'm glad we talked.. It really helped me."

Izaya's eyes hid nothing, and filled with happiness as he nodded. Masomi nodded back, walked back to the futon and messing with his blonde hair as he went to open the futon wider. "Oh, Masomi-kun," Izaya's soft voice cut through the silence. He looked up, tilting his head questioningly.

Izaya stared back at him, one hand still on the stair rail. He gave a huge, genuine smile, and then said,"What you said, it means a lot to me, all of it. Thank you."

Masomi smiled wider, and nodded. Izaya smiled again, and then walked up the stairs quietly. The house went quiet again, but Masomi no longer felt antsy or frustrated. Now, he felt relaxed, like a piece of the puzzle was no longer missing.

He slid back into futon, his arms wrapping around his girlfriend as he leaned his head closer. He could feel her heartbeat, hear her steady breathing, and his nerves melted away even more. Being together with her, knowing they were safe here, and that he had mended things correctly.. It made him feel happy, relaxed.

His brown eyes slowly closed, and he fell into a deep sleep. Upstairs, Izaya fell asleep, a small Yachi cuddled in his arms, her face buried against his chest while Yukine's crib was close by as well. After the storm of emotions and stress, everyone else in that house by the sea were able to find the same sense of relaxation.

And for those few, silent hours before the sun rose, everything was peaceful.


	12. Side Story: Yachi's First Christmas

In the early morning, when the sun was barely shining through the windows, a little girl was stirring. The festive season seemed to fill her completely, sending energy through all her nerves. Her green eyes snapped open, scrambling to sit up in her bed. Then, an excited smile crawled up Yachi Orihara's face.

The five year old crawled to the end of her blue bed, leaning onto the nightstand to look at her Totoro clock. As her eyes caught sight of the time displayed, her smile grew even bigger. "It's Christmas.." She whispered,"It's Christmas!"

Jumping to the edge of her bed, she hugged the black and white puppy, who let out a yip of surprise. "Yeti!" Yachi squealed,"It's Christmas!" The puppy wiggled excitedly, squirming so that he could lick at her face. The girl giggled, before sliding out of her bed and into her cat slippers.

Yeti followed her as she ran down the stairs, scrambling to a stop at the sight of the tree. Underneath the tree was tons of presents as the multi-colored lights glowed brightly. There were three stockings, each stuffed to the brim. As she walked to the table by the stockings, she saw the plate she had left out was empty, with only a few crumbs left behind. The sight was wonder to the little girl. _Santa was here!_

She turned, dashing up the stairs as fast as her little legs could carry her. "Dad! Daddy!" She yelled,"Santa's been here!"

Yachi pushed the door open, seeing her father curled up in his futon, still peacefully asleep. The little girl hopped over, shaking Izaya's shoulder excitedly. "Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! It's Christmas daddy!" She exclaimed.

Izaya grunted slightly, his red eyes blearily blinking open to take in the view of his daughter. The second she saw his eyes open, she jumped up. "Dad! It's Christmas! Wake up! Wake up!" She exclaimed.

He grunted, moving to sit up. "Okay sweetie, I'm awake," He muttered,"I'll meet you downstairs, okay?"

Yachi nodded, turning and dashing downstairs once more. Izaya smiled, before sliding out of his futon. He smoothed his red and green pajamas out, before wandering over to the door. He couldn't stop the smile from crawling up his face. It was their first christmas together, as a family. And although Izaya had never been one for holidays, the thought of spending one with his daughter was one that filled him with joy.

He headed downstairs, taking in the view of downstairs with a soft grin. Okay, maybe he had gone a little overboard with the amount of gifts, but it was Yachi's first Christmas. Not only with him, but her first Christmas with a family. He wanted to make it special, one to be remembered.

"Look at all the presents dad!" She exclaimed, turning her green eyes to him. "What should I open first?"

Izaya hummed, kneeling down to look around. "Well.. How about you give Yeti his presents first? The ones we picked out at the pet store?" He suggested.

Yachi's eyes widened, nodding to Izaya's suggestion. She grabbed one present, unwrapping it to reveal a nice bone for the puppy. The dog yapped excitedly, moving to take it, only to freeze when Yachi pulled it away.

"Wait Yeti!" She exclaimed,"You need to get in the Christmas spirit first! So you gotta put on your sweater!"

A few minutes later, the poor dog was now dressed in an elf costume. He whined in displeasure, turning his eyes towards Izaya in a desperate plea. Izaya nursed his hot tea close to his chest, and shook his head. "If you want your bone, you're wearing the sweater," He declared.

Yeti released a sad sigh, but perked up as he saw the bone once more. Yachi handed the puppy the treat, while praising him for being such a good boy. The dog waddled away, determined to enjoy the treat for his suffering.

The rest of the early morning was spent opening presents, as Izaya enjoyed the sight of Yachi's gleeful face. Soon, the little girl has several new toys, books, and clothes, and Izaya didn't regret it at all.

Yachi took a look at everything, before standing and brushing away wrappers. She looked towards her father, who sat with a few presents overall. She loved her father, more than anything, and she wanted to show him that.

She hopped up, running into the kitchen and got on her knees, crawling up to one of the more unused cupboards and opening it. Inside was a large wrapper that was haphazardly covered in ribbon. It was her gift for her father, she had made it all by herself. She couldn't wait for him to see it.

Izaya, meanwhile, was sitting down with a gentle gaze crawling over the room. In his lap was some homemade christmas treats from Aikawa, a scarf from Lisa, and a nice cookbook from her husband. It was a strange thing, having friends that cared, who loved him, who gave him things when he did. It made him wonder.. If he had been a better person, could have been friends with everyone in Ikebukuro? Celty? Kadota? S-Shizuo..? Would he have been more than a monster?

If only he could go back to the past and-

"Daddy?"

Izaya jumped slightly, coming out of his thoughts and turning to look at his daughter. She was nervously ruffling her brown hair, holding a box Izaya had never seen before. The girl frowned nervously, before turning her eyes up to him once more.

Noticing his nervous daughter, he decided to calm her a bit. "Whatcha got there, Yachi?" He asked, leaning forward with genuine curiosity. The child's fear was almost instantly washed away, as a happy grin climbed up her face. She moved, placing it in his lap and smiling nervously.

"I made something for you, daddy," She said softly, moving to sit on the coffee table and watch him hopefully.

Izaya turned to look at the item, gently removing the tape, unwinding the ribbon, and gently pulling the wrapper away. Underneath the paper was a simple drawing, but it made Izaya's already warm heart melt down even more.

The picture was a taller person with black hair and red eyes, Izaya, holding a little girl who had green eyes and brown hair, Yachi. Yeti was next to them, and behind them was their house. On the top of the picture it read 'My Familie' but the 'ie' was crossed out and replaced with 'ly' underneath it.

"I know it isn't that good.. But it was the best I had.." Yachi nervously explained, only to squeak in surprise as Izaya grabbed her, lifting her up, and twirling her around. The girl giggled, before hugging her dad as he hugged her back just as tight, burying his nose in her brown hair.

"Your drawing is the best gift I've ever gotten, Yachi," Izaya firmly declared,"It's beautiful, it's amazing, and I couldn't ask for anything else."

Yachi's eyes brightened, and a huge smile climbed up her face. She buried her face into his shoulder, hugging her father as close as she could. "I love you daddy," She whispered.

"I love you too sweetie, more than anything in the world," He returned, placing a kiss on her head, as warmth filled his chest. Izaya, in that moment, knew that the past didn't matter.

Everything he needed was right in front of him.

 _Merry Christmas!_


	13. Chapter 13

As morning rolled around, everyone found themselves drowsily forcing themselves up. It was quiet for a while, everyone still trying to wake up as the sun rose a little higher.

Izaya walked downstairs a little while later, now dressed in a red tank top and black shorts. Yukine was in his arms, wearing a cute orange and white striped shirt with a whale on the front, short sleeves with a blue and white striped pattern, and grey shorts. Yachi was wearing a hot pink shirt with white shorts. On the right side of her chest, there was a few black stars, and in her hair was a bright pink headband.

"Good morning!" Yachi exclaimed excitedly, jumping down the stairs two by two, and then dashing into the kitchen, running back inside, the great dane now following after her as she gallivanted down the hall and back.

The older people groaned, trying to find out how to keep up with the six year olds everlasting energy. Izaya was a little calmer as he looked around, noticing one missing person. "Is Shinra checking on Erika?" He asked curiously.

Celty nodded to his question, and as if on cue, they heard noise on the stairs. Walker was helping Erika down the stairs, her hair down instead of in its usual braid. Shinra walked past them, saying,"She's good to walk for a while, just to make sure she doesn't push herself too far."

Walker nodded quickly, ready to agree to anything if it meant that Erika would be okay. Everyone in the room, especially those who had been at the apartment during the attack, let a breath of relief. At least everyone was okay now.

"Awesome!" Yachi exclaimed excitedly, not really aware of how close to death Erika had become. She then turned to Izaya, hugging his waist, and looking up at him. "Does that mean we can go now?"

Izaya smiled, adjusting the little baby in his hands. "We just have to wait for Lisa and Sosuke, you know we always go together," He explained.

Kadota made a curious noise, gaining the family's attention. "Go?" He asked,"Go where?"

"What about the plan?" Shinra continued.

Izaya rolled his eyes. "Guys, relax," He replied,"We're not leaving. After storms like this, a lot of stuff tends to wash up or end up at the shore. The town usually comes together and cleans up, just to keep everything safe."

"Yeah!" Yachi exclaimed, jumping up and down as she held onto Izaya's shirt. "And there's some baby turtle eggs on the beach too! We have to make sure that they have a safe way to the water for them, right daddy?"

"Yup!" Izaya said cheerfully, holding the girl closer with one hand. His smile was so happy, it still caught them off guard.

Everyone muttered for a moment, before Mikado curiously asked,"Um.. Is it okay if we come with you?"

Izaya gave the young man an incredulous look, before saying,"Yes? Why wouldn't it be? I'm not holding you hostage, you can leave whenever you want."

"Good!" Masomi said happily, walking out of the kitchen with a glass of water. "I can't wait to leave this pigsty for a while!"

"Oh?" Izaya questioned teasingly,"You say that, Kida-kun, but I bet this place is cleaner than any place you've taken Saki out for a date."

The room suddenly grew tense, everyone remembering Masomi's hatred towards the raven. Izaya's insult could send everything back, they didn't need any more anger towards anyone when they were trying to catch a murderer!

But suddenly, Masomi snorted, and let out a laugh. "Well at least I can get a date, Mr. Single Mom," He teased back.

Izaya gasped, a hand going to his heart, as an amused smirk crawled up his face. "Touche, Kida, touche," He declared above the sound of a doorbell. Izaya then turned to go towards the door, leaving a group of jaw dropped people behind him.

Opening the door, he was greeted by a happier looking Lisa. She was in a dress that reached her knees, her stomach showing easily, though it was still comfortable for her. Sosuke was wearing his normal shirt with swim trunks for pants, with sunglasses that were a little big on him over his eyes.

Lisa smiled, noticing the people nearby, and glaring at them quickly. But then she turned back to Izaya with a smile on her face. "Hey! Ready to go?" He asked excitedly.

The woman nodded. "Sosuke can't wait to get in the water," She explained, chuckling softly,"You can keep an eye on him for me, right?"

"Of course, you get all the rest you can, Lisa," Izaya replied in a caring tone, letting a smile climb up his face as well.

 _CRASH!_

Everyone in the room jumped, turning towards the source of the noise in confusion. Izaya transferred Yukine to Lisa's arms, quickly moving towards it before anyone else, and saw Yachi lying on the floor with her right knee to her chest. "Owwww!" She cried.

Izaya moved to sit next to her, helping the girl sit up as he looked at the skinned knee. He quickly moved to the drawer on the kitchen island, grabbing a bandaid and some neosporin. He quickly applied both, as he asked,"That looks like it stings, are you okay?"

Yachi scrunched up her face, before nodding. "Mmhmm! I'm okay daddy," She replied,"I just got dizzy for a second, I think I stood up too fast.."

Izaya smiled, and ruffled her hair, before he froze. "Oh no.. I think this injury is too severe. I guess we'll have to cancel the beach trip," Izaya suddenly declared.

Yachi gasped, her green eyes growing wide. "What?" She asked,"Daddy, don't you dare! I'm fine!"

Izaya's eyes gleamed with mischievousness, as he pulled the girl into a bridal style hold. "Shinra, what do you think?" He asked.

Shinra took a second to respond, surprised at being addressed, but then he saw that glow in his friend's red eyes. He then rubbed his chin, making exaggerated thinking noises, before he responded,"That _is_ pretty bad. I think she needs a week of bedrest if she ever wants to recover."

Yachi gasped, and then began violently squirming in Izaya's hold. "No no no!" She exclaimed,"NEVER!"

The girl finally managed to wiggle her way out of her father's hold, landing on her little feet, and dashing out the front door as she declared,"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

Izaya laughed breathlessly, out of air from holding the hyperactive six year old. He turned towards Lisa, taking Yukine back from her with a gentle thank you before he said,"Okay! We're ready to go!" Everyone nodded eagerly, extremely thankful to get out of the house and see the town Izaya had been staying in.

And with that thought in mind, they headed off.

When they got down the hill, the sound of rushing waves and the smell of the ocean greeted them. It seemed to fill them all with renewed energy, looking forward to a day on the beach.

Izaya then turned around, and declared,"Okay, we're here. Me, Lisa, and the kiddos will stay on the beach, you all can go off and do whatever you want!"

There was an excited murmur of agreement, before everyone headed off the go have fun.

Everyone instantly split off into their groups. The teens moved towards the shops, Kadota's gang went towards food, while Shinra and Celty went to go see some scenery. Everyone had their little cliques, but one person was left behind..

Shizuo.

His brown eyes watched everyone go, a little upset at being left behind, but fearful of breaking into their carefully constructed groups. Even though he was well liked by all of them now.. He still felt left out.

He sighed sadly, looking towards the messy beach as the wind blew his yellow locks. There was the sound of childish giggles, making him look over.

Izaya was kneeling down, putting sunscreen on the little girl who was gesturing excitedly as the substance was rubbed into her skin.

"Okay sweetie," Izaya then said, ruffling her hair. "I want you to sit with Aunt Lisa until the twenty minutes for your sunscreen are up, then you can help me clean up the beach okay?"

"Okay!" Yachi chirped, bright green eyes glowing with excitement,"And then we can clean up everything so my party can happen tomorrow!"

"Yup!" Izaya cheerfully replied, picking up the girl and moving her over to the picnic tables set up on the edge of the beach. "And remember to eat all of your snack, okay?"

"Yep yep!" Yachi exclaimed again, plopping down in her seat, grabbing her peach and juicebox, and beginning to eat happily, her legs swinging underneath her.

Izaya smiled, and turned to Lisa. "You don't mind watching Yukine?" He nervously asked. The young woman chuckled, before shaking her head.

"Izaya, I told you I didn't mind," Lisa quickly replied,"I won't be much help on the beach anyways. Plus it helps me prepare for the next baby, it's been a while since Sosuke was that little."

"Yup!" Sasuke declared, before flexing his scrawny arms. "Now I'm a big, strong boy!"

Izaya smiled down at the child, before his red eyes caught sight of the blonde standing a few feet away. He frowned, noticing how none of the others from Ikebukuro seemed to be around. Did they leave Shizuo behind?

He looked towards Lisa once more, who seemed to understand what he was thinking. She merely waved a hand, encouraging him as discreetly as she could. The raven felt a strike of fear go through him, before he squeezed his hands together, releasing a huge breath. Then, he headed towards the blonde.

"All alone, Shizu-chan?" A familiar voice broke through Shizuo's daze, causing the bodyguard to whip around and face the young man. Izaya's red eyes looked at him through his bangs, a soft smile on his face.

Shizuo finally registered the question, and nodded. His brown eyes stared blankly at Izaya, wondering why he would ask in the first place.

The raven smiled a little wider, before his scarred hands reached out to grab at Shizuo's own. The blonde started, a shock seeming to go through both of them.

They stared for a few minutes, before Izaya's dry mouth finally caught some words. "I could use an extra set of hands," He declared,"This beach won't clean itself."

Shizuo instantly felt surprised. _He actually wants to spend time with me? After everything I caused?_ He thought, before giving a nervous nod.

Izaya kept the smile on his face, pulling the blonde over to the side of the beach. They both knelt down at the shore, pulling pieces of plastic, metal, and other items out of the sand.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Shizuo finally was tired of it, and decided to speak. "So.. You're a writer now?" He asked,"How did that happen? You never said."

Izaya chuckled, fiddling with the trash bag in his hand. "Well, it's kind of awkward to talk about.." He replied,"I was using writing as a therapy after.. Everything. Most of what I wrote was about you guys. One day, Lisa found my stories and suggested I publish them. I wasn't really enthused about the idea, but I needed a job. So, I just changed the names and sent them in. Never expected to get this popular though."

Shizuo listened curiously, dumping a few cans into Izaya's bag. "What about you?" The raven replied, looking towards the blonde with genuine interest. The conversation was domestic, but it was something he never imagined he'd do with Izaya.

"The same as before, debt collecting," Shizuo replied. Izaya made an affirmative noise, not asking anything else. As they continued down the beach, a silence fell over them, but it was comforting. Shizuo kept glancing over at the raven, who was doing the same. For a while, neither knew what to say.

Finally, Izaya released a soft chuckle, his feet kicking at the sand below. "This is… It's strange," He admitted,"A few years ago, you and I could never even have a conversation. I never imagined we would ever get along."

"Well I never imagined you as anything but a disgusting flea back then," Shizuo responded, moving to look at the raven once more. "But now, it's different.."

Izaya turned to look at him, a gentle smile on his face. "And I would have never seen you as anything but a monster," He agreed,"But I was wrong the whole time. You were better than me, always were.. Even now."

"Are you kidding me?!" Shizuo exclaimed, causing Izaya to turn to him with confusion in his ruby eyes. "Maybe I was before, but you're miles ahead of me! Look at you! You have an amazing job, an amazing home, and you have children who love you!" His angry eyes suddenly were tamed, as his shoulders slumped.

"You're better than me now, Izaya. You changed.. A lot, and I've been the same," He sadly declared,"Exactly the same.. People are still scared of me, I haven't made any new friends.. What good am I?" 

They had stopped, the soft waves brushing up against their feet as Shizuo's desolate chocolate eyes remained on the ground. Izaya was shocked. Is that how you really feel? He thought sadly. It's not true.. You're so much more, why don't you realize It?

His frown hurt Izaya, and he wanted to change it. His heart was twisted, and his throat wouldn't let him say what he wanted. With all the force he tried, he couldn't seem to speak. But those eyes hurt, and Izaya didn't want to see them anymore.

"Shizuo," He finally managed to force out, grabbing the larger hands firmly. "You're wrong."

The blonde turned, looking at the determination in his eyes. It was amazing, having someone who actually cared.. And it was Izaya of all people.

His hands tightened around Izaya's smaller ones, unsure of how to respond. "You.. You really think that?" He whispered in awe.

Izaya nodded softly, but he seemed closer now. Shizuo could see everything about his face, including a small pink hue on his cheeks. His heart felt like it was chasing the raven, but how could it when he was merely looking at him? Where was this feeling coming from?

They moved closer, ever so closer. Shizuo stared into those beautiful orbs, moving closer. Their lips were so close, his own about to connect with those soft, full lips and-

"Daddy?"

Izaya yanked himself away, jumping in surprise at the call. He stared at Shizuo for a moment, before a profuse blush covered his cheeks.

The raven then rushed by him, heading back to his daughter. As he reached where she was standing, he noticed she looked rather tired.

"Yachi?" He asked softly, moving to pick her up. "You alright sweetheart?" The girl leaned against his shoulder, closing her eyes with a shake of her head.

"M'Ok daddy…" She whispered,"Just wanna go home."

The raven smiled softly, his pale hand rubbed against his daughter's brown hair. "Okay, we'll go home right now," He agreed. Just as he was about to take a step, he blinked in remembrance, and turned towards where Shizuo was.

"Shizuo, I-"

Shizuo shook his head quickly, and declared,"Go ahead, I'll be fine. Your daughter comes first."

Izaya returned his words with a grateful smile, before heading off. Shizuo watched him go, but the odd feeling in his chest still remained. He had been about to kiss the flea.. And that thought still didn't disgust him.. The raven was about to as well, did that mean he felt the same?

Could a monster like him truly be loved?

The figure sat slumped in a darkly lit warehouse, playing with the metal item in his hand. His leg tapped on the ground impatiently, growing more frustrated by the minute.

Finally, a shed of light entered the dim room as another figure ran in. He stumbled quickly over to the man's throne. "Sir! I have important news! It's about the plan!" He exclaimed.

The man waved his hand, and firmly stated,"Tell me."

"They've lowered their guard, none of them are moving in. They won't be beginning to search for us until after tomorrow," The subordinate declared. When his boss didn't reply, the man's smile turned into a nervous frown.

Finally the man forced pushed himself out of his seat, stomping away from it. When he came to a stop, he stood in front of a large map. There were several red Xs on it, and one large circle. He learned over it, and the light reached his lower face. One could now see the sadistic grin rising onto his face. He flicked the metal item in his hand, and a loud shrinking noise revealed what it truly was. A switchblade, which now gleamed in the light.

"Contact our allies," He declared,"Send everyone, everyone. I want them, and I want them now. That's an order."

"Yes sir!" The subordinate declared, quickly running from the room to send out the leader's orders.

The man continued to remain at the map, staring at the circle on the table. He rubbed the blade with his thumb, and softly whispered,"Finally.. Finally I will get my revenge. After so long.. It's time."

He slammed his hand down, sending the switchblade into the map, and completely through the table. It had landed within the circle, cutting right through the single city within it.

 _Umizoinogake_


End file.
